Three Seconds After
by Anacampserote
Summary: Apocalypse AU, RoMerica. After a devastating war triggers a nuclear winter and leaves Lovino Vargas stranded in Dallas, he meets the infuriating and charming Alfred Jones. Together, they set it upon themselves to cross Texas in hopes of finding shelter. It's not long into their journey before a catastrophe arises. Rating may go up in later chapters.
1. Chapter 1

Okay, well this isn't my first fanfiction, but it is the first I've uploaded here.

Constructive criticism is welcomed and encouraged. Also, I'm terribly sorry for the length of this chapter. I promise longer ones are on the way.

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This was one of the coldest years Lovino had ever known.

Hailing from the sunny Italian Peninsula didn't really help your case when the temperatures were basically freezing. He ended up in the worst place imaginable: the United States of America. Well at least for him it was.

Who the hell even wants to go to Dallas for vacation? Really, this place was bad enough before it turned into a desolate wasteland from the nuclear war that had taken place barely a year ago. The city looked even creepier when it was basically rotting away.

Lovino didn't know why he was still hanging around. Maybe it was because he didn't know where else to go. Maybe it was because he was afraid of what was expecting him once he left.

The map said he was a couple hundred kilometres from Galveston. He just wanted to get out of this wretched city. The trip would be long, but it was worth it. Maybe the water hadn't frozen over yet.

Heaving himself over a cracked concrete divider with a loud grunt, his mind wandered to his little brother, Feliciano. The 17 year old boy wanted to visit the states for a vacation, particularly Texas for some odd reason.

Now that he was remembering, that odd reason was to visit his friend, Matthew, who lived in Dallas with his older brother Alfred. They had met once before and Feliciano reassured his older brother that Matthew and Alfred were 'really cool and nice, plus they make funny jokes!'

He found one of them annoying, if you can guess who. What's worse, they slept in Alfred's apartment instead of a hotel like originally planned.

Lovino's heart clenched painfully at the thought of his brother, who had died when the war had just begun along with Matthew. Tendrils of grief and blame and regret coiled around his head and consumed his thoughts, swirling them into dark apologies for something he couldn't have prevented.

As he walked down the torn up street, the rifle in his arms was poised dangerously, aimed in front of him as he crawled his way toward a collapsed bridge ahead. His eyes scanned the snow underfoot through the black gas mask strapped to his face. No prints, no queer looking indentions or streaks of any kind. He was alone. Lovino decided that the best place to sleep would be under the broken section of the bridge that looked like a cement tent. How fun.

The ash clouded sky hung over him like a death trap; with no real sense of time, the Italian rested when he felt tired or hungry. For all he knew, it could have been the middle of the day.

But he wouldn't know thanks to some idiotic world leaders who decided a nuclear war would be a nice experience. He silently prayed the morons responsible for this mess were dead. Hopefully they died with the same regret and shame he himself felt now.

After what seemed like forever, Lovino finally reached the spot he would reside in for a couple hours. Two plastic Jersey barriers were blocking the entrance to a beat up old sedan underneath the bridge, strangely convenient. He shouldered his rifle and stepping in further to examine the vehicle.

He found heaven.

The car was packed with bags and blankets, messily hiding the cans of food and bottle water.  
This was it, this was what he needed. And he didn't really care who it belonged to.

Lovino opened the creaky, rusted door slowly before slinging off his backpack and proceeding to stuff it with his newly found treasure. A couple seconds into his pigging out, he heard a heavy clank nearby.

_Oh no._

The brunet barely avoided snapping his neck as he turned quickly to look at the looming man at the other side of the shelter, some distance away from the car. He was utterly terrified. Lovino knew he wouldn't be able to win a fight against this man.

It seemed they were both frozen in their spots, and Lovino could only take in the broad shouldered frame, heavy boots, large gas mask, and layers upon layers of clothing and shawls and scarves. This man, no doubt, was easily 6 feet tall compared to the mere 5 feet and 6 inches of Lovino. What stood out the most was the sniper rifle strapped to the guy's back.

The Italian hurriedly zipped up his backpack, slinging it on his shoulder before whirling around on his heel and bolting away. For once he was thankful of his superb running ability, even in the thick snow with the heavy backpack bouncing around. Lovino heard the man just as he jumped over the Jersey barriers.

He wasn't going fast enough. This guy was definitely going catch him.

All his hopes were slowly being drained away as he heard the footsteps become closer and closer. The momentary absence of footsteps, he decided, was the man going over the barrier. With the rifle clutched tightly in his arms, Lovino stopped for a split second, his gut driving him to turn right.

Too slow, too slow.

The brunet was cut off mid step by a heavy body slamming into his, pushing him to the floor face first and sending his weapon flying across the street.

He was painfully aware of the muzzle of a rifle digging into the back of his head.

"Get off!" Lovino wheezed, thrashing wildly to try and push his attacker off, who had settled on his back. The man pinned his opponent's wrists above his head with bruising strength. "Get off me!"

The man didn't respond and instead worked the backpack off of the thief. "Who do you think you are?" The Italian's voice was muffled by the mask, which was pressing painfully into his face.

"Who are you?" A snarling voice resonated from the black gas mask above him. His breath caught in his throat. It was a familiar voice that he couldn't quite pinpoint.

With no response, the man became aggressive, "take off your mask!" Lovino growled out a string of curses in his native tongue, followed by a command to be let go. With that being said, the man climbed off of him but kept the rifle trained. "I said 'take off your mask!'" He barked angrily, aiming the weapon at the shorter man's head. "Damn, chill!" Lovino snapped, holding up his hands carefully as he undid the straps of his mask.

The putrid, ash-filled air invaded his lungs, sending the man into a violent coughing fit. "Holy hell!" He wheezed, gripping the mask tightly as he doubled over. "Wha- Lovino?" The voice of the attacker became soft, even chirpy, as he lowered the gun and stepped forward. "Oh my god, Lovino!" The taller of the two flung his arms around the Italian, making him stumble back with the gun clacking between them. "Get the hell off me, idiot!" Lovino snarled, smacking him in the head with his mask and effectively getting him to let go.

"Ouch!" The man feigned hurt, probably pouting behind the mask. "Don't you recognise me, huh? It's me, Alfred! Alfred Jones, you know, the Dallas guy." The name sounded terribly familiar but he just couldn't put a face to it. "Come on, how can you not remember me?" Lovino crossed his arms, nose red from the cold. "I don't know, maybe because you're wearing a fucking mask?" To which the other undid his own gas mask, revealing a mop of unruly blond hair and sharp blue eyes. It took only seconds before he practically hacked up his lungs as well. "Holy shit, that stings-"

Finally it clicked in his mind. This was the guy who he was with during the war, before they were split up. A silent part of him wanted to thank Alfred for getting him out of fighting in America, but another part of him wanted to choke the man for turning them into the authorities.

"Yes, I remember you." He sighed wearily, putting the mask back on his face securely before snatching up his backpack and trudging over to pick up his rifle. "That's great!" Alfred cheered, walking beside him. "Hey. Why were you stealing my stuff though?"

Of course this question was expected, and Lovino already had an answer, "I was hungry, idiot. My supply is running low…" Alfred breathed a soft 'oh' before clapping his hands together. It seemed he came to the realisation that Lovino would let him starve if he was anyone else.

"I've got plenty of food, and you can sleep in the car too." The offer was tempting but Lovino knew better. What if the guy stole all of _his _stuff? "I'm fine, I can take care of myself." The rifle was slung over his shoulder, joining the black backpack full of stolen goods.

"Alright… But you know I can't let you just take all of my food right?"

Lovino was also expecting this, and he gave a soft nod. "Yeah… But I really need this." His mind reeled to find a suitable explanation. "I'm heading South. To Galveston, I want to see the ocean."

At this, Alfred perked up. "That's great! I was also going South, we can travel together."

Neither of them question why the other was still in Dallas.

~/~

Lovino didn't know why, but somehow he'd ended up with Alfred inside the sedan, sorting out their supplies for the long journey ahead of them. A little part of him regretted agreeing to the trip. According to the map, the trip would be 547 kilometres when taking the main roads. Hopefully the bridges were in good enough shape to travel.

They talked about trivial things, things of little importance now. Alfred was 20, in college, on his way to becoming a fighter pilot. Lovino was 22, an architecture student. They had it going for them before things went sour. As the conversation continued into hobbies, they steered clear of family.

They didn't talk about Feliciano. They didn't talk about Matthew. They only talked about themselves.

"We should get some sleep…" Alfred yawned, triggering Lovino to do the same. "Yeah, sure. I'm tired as hell." They settled down on the reclining seats in the front section of the car, leaving their bags in the back and wrapping themselves in all available blankets.

Sleep did not come easy to the blond, especially with the strange shadows lurking on the rooftops.  
Alfred said nothing.

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Thank you for reading, I hope you enjoyed it!


	2. Chapter 2

Excuse my lateness, I meant to update last week but I scrapped my original draft for this chapter and rewrote it.

Anyways, I hope you enjoy!

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Lovino was the first to get up, cursing at himself for sleeping so much. He could feel the drowsiness in his limbs, a thick sap weighing him down into the less-than-comfortable car seat he was curled up on. The chill from outside swooped in to fill the space where he previously lied as he sat up, watching his scarf shift with him.

Beside the Italian was a snoring American, his legs propped up on the dashboard haphazardly with one of his arms hanging loosely between him and Lovino while the other was pinned behind the layers of colourful shawls on his head. A small frown was hidden behind Lovino's gas mask as he observed his companion. He blamed Alfred's carefree nature on the fact he let himself sleep twice as long as he usually did.

Not that he was really complaining, the dark circles under his eyes and pale skin were proof enough that he was basically scared shitless because of this ordeal. Sleep had never been any sort of majestic spell that whisked him away into a wonderland where his family was alive and happy. No, not since he'd been caught here; forced to face the terrible fate waiting for him at the end of this rope he was helplessly tied to (at least that's how it felt like to him). It was more like all of his fears were stuffed into a blender and mixed together to create the ultimate monster. There was no cotton candy clouds, or gum drop bushes that smelled like a bouquet of flowers on the nights where his brother would get ready for a date with his girlfriend and bounce over to ask him if he looked okay.

Lovino scolded himself harshly for thinking of such things, why couldn't he just let go? Actually... how could he let go? After living with the boy for seventeen years and morphing into the overprotective brother who doubled as a guardian, it was hard to imagine what his life would be like after Feliciano left. Maybe it's because Lovino didn't expect him to.

"_Please, let my brother go, signor! He didn't mean to bump into you-!" A loud, shrill cry caught in the boy's throat as he was gripped tightly by the collar of his shirt._

"_Why are you here? Are you a spy?" A taller blond pulled Feliciano forward and pushed him onto his knees."Answer me, you piece of European shit!" He roared, kicking the brunet to the ground with swift, precise movements. The man grew more angry when his victim was reduced to blubbering out pleas of mercy in Italian and loud sobs begging for the older brother._

_Lovino was being held back by two other civilians who roughly pulled him forward, their grips bruising his arms."Poor 'fratello.'" The blond laughed, "not that you'll be one any longer." _

_If they were doing what he thought they were doing..._

This can't be happening, no, no, not to Feliciano, he doesn't deserve this.

"_Get away from him, you sick fuck!" He struggled against the grimy extremists who cackled insults and death threats into his ear."If you touch him again, you'll be dead on the ground!" The man only laughed, propping his hands on his hips. "You think you're tough shit, huh? I'd like to see you do something about it. You Italians don't stand a chance against the might of America! Better yet, the entire _continent_ of Europe can't challenge American strength! They started this war, and now we're gonna end it."_

_His stomach churned with worry because the man was right, there was no way he could protect his brother without getting him or both of them slaughtered. Even if the man was alone, he was bigger and probably stronger than Lovino. He couldn't risk getting his baby brother killed because thsi asshole wanted to prove himself as some sort of twisted hero._

_Around them, a crowd had gathered and they cheered on the attacker, shouting insults and encouragement at respective parties in twangy accents that grated Lovino's ears._

_His younger brother was struggling to get up but when he turned to face Lovino, a trickle of blood dripped from his pale lips, eyes red and wide and scared."Lovi, please..." The man turned around to face Feliciano, a sneer on his face. "And who the fuck said you could talk?" Lovino's blood boiled with hate and anger. White noise buzzed in his ears and he could barely hear the struggling men trying to control him._

"_And who the fuck said you could speak to my brother like that?" He snarled, fighting the men even though he knew it was useless. It wasn't fair. Feliciano didn't do anything to deserve this, it wasn't his fault that Lovino was the one who always fucked up. It wasn't his fault Lovino was such a klutz._

_The man only laughed and pulled out a gun, waving it around as if it was some kind of toy. "Stupid Italian scum… you both deserve to die!"_

_Lovino prayed to every single god in existence that this poor fuck, for both their sakes, would turn and aim at him-_

"Hey, Lovino," Alfred's raspy voice snapped him out of his daze. Tears slipped from his eyes and the Italian rushed to wipe them away before his companion could see them. He failed to realise he was still wearing the mask and his gloved hands clunked against the polycarbonate uselessly. A shuddering breath escaped his lips as he fought to keep his whimpers quiet.

If Alfred had seen the traitorous tears, he didn't say anything.

"Are you ready to go?" With Lovino turned away, he wasn't sure if the other man had even heard. The blond shifted into a proper sitting position, letting out a satisfied groan as his joints cracked. After popping his back, he let out a heavy sigh, not expecting the Italian to answer.

"Fuck..." His breathing was a little too shallow and little too wet. "Yeah, let's leave this shithole already," Lovino nodded, adjusting the shawls resting on his shoulders to hide his not-so-pleasant looking greasy hair. He tried not to notice how disgusting his mouth felt and tasted.

"Hey! This was technically my home." Alfred looked pained and Lovino only rolled his eyes, scoffing as the other broke into a grin. He couldn't really see it, but the blue eyes gave enough away.

"And now," He lifted his head mid monologue. "The roads are my home, my companions are my mind, a little Italian, and the cold." Alfred gave a heavy sigh, clutching both gloved hands to his chest.

_What a fucking drama queen._

Lovino couldn't help but smile at his blond companion's idiocy. The very few people he had encountered were mean and snarky and dangerous, traits he himself possessed but wasn't particularly proud of. His attitude had only gotten worse with the ever impending doom that hung above him like the blade of a guillotine.

After all, sarcasm wasn't the sort of thing that got you out of life or death situations.

"Oh shoot, I almost forgot," Alfred laughed, reaching down between them to pull out two cans of beans. "Two?" Lovino didn't want to waste food because they were being carelessly indulgent. "I thought you needed it. You're skinnier than the last time we met, even if you were already pretty slim." The Italian scowled, snatching the bean can away after alfred had opened it. "Yeah, whatever... thanks." He muttered, pulling off the lid and slowly eating its contents.

They chatted idly and even though it was mostly one-sided Alfred didn't seem to mind. He just talked to fill the void, enjoying what little attention Lovino offered him and getting a kick out of it when he made the guarded man smile or even chuckle.

"Come on 'Vino, let's get going!" The American nudged him and threw down his can before quickly slipped out of the car and reaching into the back to retrieving his bag. Lovino did the same, only slower. He never could suppress the drowsiness, even now.

They checked over their rifles and Alfred exclaimed his distaste for only having sixteen rounds out of thirty left in his magazine when Lovino's was almost completely full. His curiosity peaked at the others misfortune about the bullets but his fear over why the others were used kept him quiet. Nonetheless, the firearms were in good condition and they set off quietly.

The pair walked along the bridge wall cautiously, with Lovino beginning to gradually wander away. "Hey!" Alfred hissed quietly and grabbed his sleeve to tug him back. "What the hell was that for?" The Italian snapped, pulling away his arm swiftly. "You can't just walk in the middle of the street," he veered the angry man closer to the bridge quickly and glanced behind them. "What, why not?" Lovino was suddenly anxious as memory of the sixteen rounds surfaced.

"There are people around here who are dangerous. They're loaded, I'm telling you, they won't hesitate to blow someone's brains out." He moved closer so he was practically whispering, voice low and insistent. Their faces were so close together that Lovino could see the fluttering of blond lashes behind a recently cleaned thermoplastic. "Have you just been wandering out in the open this whole time?"

Lovino blinked. "Of course not, I'm not stupid!" His tone pitched down when he remembered where they were,"I met some people a while ago... They told me this section of Dallas had been cleared out because there's radioactive residue nearby.

Alfred narrowed his eyes, not quite believing him."What? There's no radioactive anything nearby!" He didn't entirely convinced Lovino either. "Of course there is, it was a nuclear war, dumbass!"

Dallas was a major city so it was more than likely to be hit during the war. Not to mention it was also close to other large cities and highly populated towns. It would be stupid to not hit around it at least.

"Alright, maybe there might be some radiation left over, but there was an Air Force base near Fort Worth that got hit, which you could hardly call close to Dallas! Hmm... the Czechs probably got it on one of their runs. It was an important base so..." He ended with a shrug, pulling Lovino along until they reached the edge of ramp leading off the bridge.

"I'm just saying, the radiation could have traveled over here somehow. It's possible you know."

"I've traveled most of West Dallas, I think I would have noticed something earlier." He scoffed, twisting to look over his shoulder. A dull clunk had caught their attention and they both went silent. The Italian thought to ask why he was traveling around, but his curiosity fled at the first sign of danger.

Whispering a warning to Lovino that they were being followed, the duo walked faster, kicking up some snow in their wake as they scurried along. Alfred shifted his rifle, looking over his shoulder once more. He blinked hard and pretended not to see the two painfully obvious men 'hiding' behind the wreckage of a cleaned off car.

The conversation had been brushed off and they kept walking, slinking behind a snow piled... something that was probably stiff and bent into an unrecognisable shape. Lovino voiced his concerns about their pursuers quietly, asking who they were and why they were following them.

"Well... Those guys are like some Christian extremists. Long story short they're trying to get rid of everyone," Giving a small shrug as the duo manoeuvred around a lump of ice. "They think it's the rapture." He let out a sharp, sudden sigh and grabbed his companion's arm before stepping into an alley.

"What?" A shudder of fear ran through Lovino as he pressed to the glossy wall. Thousands of different scenarios ran through his head, most of which ended with them being killed or left to a horrible death.

_Am I going to die? Maybe. Probably. No, no, no... I don't want this, shit, get me out of here! _

A loud crunch made him jump and push himself further into the wall, praying he would melt into the frozen brick and disappear. He was such a wimp. How had he even survived this long?

He didn't realise Alfred was talking until the younger man was practically shouting. "Dammit, we have to go! Those guys are getting closer!" He was pushed forward roughly and Lovino's legs suddenly started working as he stumbled into a run with Alfred pressing up beside him in the tight alleyway. Their rifles clacked together loudly and they struggled to keep their grip on the weapons.

A loud bang resonated around them and Lovino almost tripped from fear but instead crashed into Alfred, who in turn tumbled against the wall and fell.

_Oh fuck._

"Get up, get up!" Lovino grabbed his arm and pulled him forward. He was hardly helpful on account of Alfred being almost twice his size. The duo shot up as another gunshot rang out from somewhere behind them. Fear pumped through their veins as they rounded the corner and jumped over mounds of snow covered garbage bins.

They didn't care about how slippery the ice was beneath their boots, or how the large pile of frozen metal ahead of them was. Alfred didn't think twice before climbing up onto the obstacle and dragging Lovino along with him before slipping and sending them both tumbling over into the not so fluffy snow.

Multiple bullets lodge themselves into the mound behind them, pushing the companions to get up and run forward. With lungs burning, they rounded a corner and narrowly avoided smashing into the wall.

In a desperate attempt to escape the religious nuts, the blond weaved down another alley until he ended up on a main road. "Dammit," Alfred panted heavily, craning his neck to read the street name. "T-Tell me what that says, quick!" "Morris...?" Lovino looked up at the taller man in confusion, clutching his rifle tightly. "I know this place, come on." Grabbing his arm, the blond dragged the foreigner into yet another frozen alley.

As they snaked deeper into the heart of the city, the size of garbage that littered the alleyways grew until they were practically running over the icy hunks of miscellaneous items. They had slowed down significantly and it was safe to say that they were crawling more than walking at this point.

"Hey," Alfred slid down on a mound of snow, leaning his head against the wall behind him with the rifle lying flat on his lap. "D'ya think we're far enough away? I mean it was, like, 2 miles of running cause this is near the Galleria." Lovino plopped down across from his companion, gasping for breath after their session of what he dubbed as 'death parkour'. He despised it. Still, he gave himself a mental pat on the back for not passing out after what seemed like fifty years of intense exercise.

"I don't think those psychos know where we are anymore... But we should keep moving." Alfred hastily agreed and lurched forward, jumping up and cracking his knuckles with newfound energy. Lovino was more sluggish but eventually he was padding next to the tall American quietly.

"We're going south right?" He looked up at his guide expectantly and shuffled a little bit closer when he heard the soft moan of creaking metal across the street. "More or less, yeah..." The path before them was littered with vehicles and shopping carts, even an overturned tour bus.

"Pft, who wants to come to Dallas for enjoyment?" He snorted, rolling his eyes and trailing Alfred as he picked his way around the obstacles. "For your information, Dallas is very historic and super pretty," Alfred said in a very as-a-matter-of-fact kind of way. "Just because that president got shot here doesn't make it some sort of holy shrine."

This time it was Alfred's turn to snort before he asked what was so special about Italy. "Really? Italy has all sorts of beautiful places like the Colosseum and Greek temples. Have you ever been to Southern Italy?" To which the other replied with a defeated and sheepish 'no' but further argued that Dallas had more modern architecture. He was shot down once again after Lovino expressed his preference for older, ancient designs anyways.

"Whatever, it's not a competition you know," Alfred huffed and crossed his arms, stopping abruptly in mid-step when he came to an open section of the street. The sudden stop caused Lovino to crash into the other's backpack and stumble. "What is it?"

The street wasn't littered with garbage this time, or even cars. It was completely cleared off and boasted prominent footprints in the deep, grey snow. It wasn't just two or three sets, a more accurate estimation would be fourteen or fifteen.

The younger of the two shuffled to the side, pressing his hand against Lovino's chest to push him back. "They're here, they..." His voice faltered as they scrambled back quickly. "They were following us the entire time." He sounded angry, scared even. A dreadful feeling settled in the pit of Lovino's stomach and he suddenly felt like throwing up.

The feeling only increased when a large group of men appeared a couple thousand metres away from them. He could clearly see their silhouettes against the dreary grey sky. His blood ran cold at the prominent outline of rifles either clinging to their backs or resting in their arms.

_We are completely and totally fucked._

"Play it cool," Alfred nudged him, eyes darting to an empty alleyway on their right. "Run that way and go left. I'll be right behind you, I swear." His voice was low and soft, barely audiable. "Listen, just keep running, alright? You're home free afterwards. Don't look back, I can catch up." Lovino got the impression that it was easier said than done. "Don't worry about me," he continued, pressing his gloved fingers into Lovino's forearm forcefully. A muffled thud echoed behind the two companions but it was too faint to pay any importance to. "I'll be fine but they won't take too kindly towards you being Italian... for obvious reasons."

Apparently the thud was of some importance.

"Italian, you say?"

A gruff voice interrupted their one-sided conversation and they both froze up. Alfred turned to look at the man, who was a couple centimetres shorter than him. Behind the unknown creeper were two others, both pointing black handguns at the duo. The teenager closest to Lovino was shaking badly, eyes wide with fear behind the flimsy and cracked gasmask. All three of them looked severely emaciated even through the thick layers of clothes and to be honest, Alfred could probably snap them in half if he wanted to. It made Lovino's stomach churn in disgust and the brunet prayed that he didn't ever have to look like that.

But they were in no position to put up a fight. They complied quietly, well Alfred did. The men didn't even look at Lovino.

Their weapons and backpacks were stripped away by cautious and thinly gloved hands, but the boys buckled under the weight awkwardly. The first man only waved it off and sent the frail teens away to the large group of men ahead of them.

For the second time in the last twenty-four hours, the muzzle of a rifle was pressed to the back of Lovino's head.


	3. Chapter 3

_A/N: Terribly sorry for such a late update, I was busy with EOC exams and just general laziness. Any ways, I hope you're having a nice day/night whatever it is for you. Okay I'll stop talking now so you can go on and read the story. Enjoy!_

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This was one of the most terrifying moments Lovino had ever experienced; only second to when his brother had gotten horrifically sick and had to go to the hospital. But it was very close; very, very close.

He could feel his erratic heartbeat in his ears, pulsing at the tips of his fingers. His mind was buzzing white with fear and he couldn't keep the gory thoughts of death out of his mind. A soft voice was calling his name, trying to coax him into doing something he couldn't quite understand. For a moment the brunet was convinced it was Feliciano. Who else would speak so kindly to him?

But another voice, louder and more violent, interrupted the first. He could barely hear, and it was something along the lines of "Stop!" and "Why?"

Surely Feli could not be _that_ angry at Lovino for eating the last slice of pizza.

A hard shove sent him falling forward with his hands and knees scraping the ground as he tried to hold himself up. A jolt of pain went through his limbs at the contact, followed by a string of curses in his native tongue as he collapsed.

Somewhere behind him he heard Alfred shout at the man before a loud crack sounded through the air.

Had it been a gunshot?

Lovino couldn't tell.

It wasn't more than a second after that a heavy thump settled beside him, a tuft of dirt encrusted blond hair stuck out from beneath even dirtier strips of cloth. A loud scream tore through his head and the noise made him scrabble backwards to get away from it.

Who let out such a hideous screech? It took a moment of realisation to recognise it was _his_ scream.

"Shut up, boy!" The man snarled, stepping behind Lovino and shoving him forward with his knee. Of course, he fell forward again, gas mask crashing roughly into the frosted over road. Another shout and he was on his feet, arm twisted painfully as he was dragged up. Everything was a blur and he had the nerve to shout an insult at his attacker, which earned him a sharp jab to the back with the butt of a rifle.

Another snappy remark which included the words 'cock guzzlers' had him on his knees from a particularly painful blow to the head. Thankfully, it had been with a hand and not the rifle. His mind was swimming, throbbing, but he couldn't get the image of his companion's body slumping to the ground out of his head.

Was Alfred dead? Lovino could not bear to have another innocent man's blood on his hands along with his brother's.

"Get up, boy, before I make 'ya."

It irritated him that they calling him 'boy' as if he was an 11 year old or something. But he didn't say anything about it and quickly got to his feet, still feeling the sharp pain in his back. As Alfred's limp body came into view, a cold shudder rippled down his spine and he forced himself to look away.

The first man let out a deep laugh, nudging Alfred's side with his foot."Hey, don't worry about your friend. He's alright." He sounded awfully friendly for someone who just knocked out the 6 foot giant.

Lovino was dragged along without another word and out of the corner of his eye, he saw two new men attempting to drag the American along with them. It made him snort but he got a sharp jab on the ribs in return. He held his tongue.

He kept walking forward, pretending that he wasn't shaking as bad as he really was. Lovino blamed the trembling of his lips on the cold, on the swirling wind that passed by as he was shoved into an alleyway.

The snarky Italian was led down the path of well worn ice until they stopped at a poorly painted black door. One of the men nudged up in front of him and knocked in a strange pattern at the door, to which it opened with an annoying shriek of rusted metal.

Inside, a pair of heavily clothed guards stood with handguns strapped to their sides. They shifted as everyone entered in and opened another set of doors that revealed a dimly lit hallway. Lovino was nudged along with the group and he could hear Alfred being dragged behind him. But he kept quiet, afraid that he would get hit again or something even worse.

"Lock him up," the first man grunted and shoved Lovino into the arms of a taller brunet. "Make sure the door is shut right 'cos last time you didn't do so hot." The other man nodded and grabbed Lovino's arm tightly before continuing to lead him down the hall. His heart beat hard in his chest with anxiety, he was probably shaking more than before.

They passed several doors before the other seemed to notice his distress and loosened his grip a bit. "Uh… sorry, John is just cautious around strangers." He apologised and turned a corner suddenly. "Are you sure he isn't just a racist? Because that's sure as fuck what it seems like to me." Lovino's boots scuffed the floor as he was pulled along. The younger man looked hurt and the Italian let a triumphant smile slip onto his face.

He didn't need to talk to this asshole anyways.

The smile curved into a frown as the other kept talking.

"My name is Philip by the way. I'm 17." Philip nudged his captive into a large room with a plastic white table in the center.

"Hey- what the hell are you doing?" Lovino smacked Philip's hands away from his head, but the boy stood firm as he peeled off the layers of shawls atop his head. "You don't need this." He set it down on the table, "I'm sure you don't want to be sweating like a pig. We got heaters here so you'll want to take off the thickest things." Philip was right, it had gotten a lot warmer.

He and watched Lovino rip off his gloves and gas mask, shrugging his black parka off before he grabbed it and threw it on the table unceremoniously. Philip carefully organised the clothes in a decent looking stack.

"I can do it myself, do I look like a little kid to you?" Lovino stepped back, undoing his windbreaker to reveal a crew neck sweater of similar black shade to the first jacket.

His wool scarf joined the windbreaker and the gloves on the table. Philip motioned to his feet and Lovino kicked off his boots, more or less slammed them onto the cheap plastic.

Philip watched him carefully, eyes darting around as if he was deciding something. "Do you really need that many layers?" The Italian rolled his eyes and unzipped his cargo pant, shimming them down his legs.

"Say one word, and you'll be dead on the ground with my scarf around your neck." Lovino growled, hands on his hips as he tried his best to look intimidating. It was really hard to be afraid of the pint sized man wearing pink joggers, beige alpine socks, and a black sweater. He looked absolutely ridiculous, but Lovino's excuse was that he was in a hurry and didn't want to freeze his ass off.

"I didn't say anything," Philip managed, stepping away as the Italian laid his clothes into a neat, controlled pile. "Here… do you want these tennis shoes?" The American opened a small closet and revealed a colourful assortment of shoes in various brand and size sitting on the poorly installed shelves. It seemed they encountered a lot of people.

"What size are you?"

"42."

Lovino knew the American system was different than the European one, but the boy was pissing him off and the confused look he had was amusing.

"Sorry, what? I-I don't understand." Philip rummaged through the shoes, turning back to the foreigner in alarm.

"Quale parte non capite?"

The boy let out a strange whine, eyes wide. "What- no, I don't understand you. Please, speak English." He rubbed his face in exasperation as Lovino tilted his head, a wicked smirk on his lips. "Cosa, Filippo?"

The boy returned to browsing through the shoes before fishing out a pair of black docksiders. "I found ones with a chart on the tongue, and this one says 'EU 42' on it, which is a size 9!" Philip smiled triumphantly and handed Lovino the shoes. He purposefully put them only slowly, glaring up at Philip when he heard an impatient sigh. "Shut up." Lovino muttered, flashing his middle finger up at the paler boy.

Philip was about to scold him when a bald head poked in, "hello? John said to come check on you. You were taking an awful long time, Philip." The man stepped in completely, eyeing Lovino with misplaced wariness. "I'll take him to the room if you don't mind, I hear he's a handful." The pudgy man smiled warmly at Philip, who nodded and scurried out of the room. Lovino suspected they were relatives.

"Alright son, let's go." The man kept his friendliness, but his voice was a bit more stern. He steered Lovino to the door with a hand on his shoulder, humming softly as they walked down another hallway and rounded another corner. This place was a fucking maze.

"Don't worry boy, we got a nice set up for you and your friend. Not like we'll treat you badly." He laughed as if he made a joke before quieting down and stopping in front of an unmarked white door with a small light switch next to it. "We're here." The man looked kind of sorry, with his apologetic smile and kind eyes. Nonetheless, he opened the door and nudged Lovino in.

The room was brightly lit and less than half the size of the first one he entered, with a worn mattress on the cement floor piled up with thin blankets accompanied by a small pillow. A mirror was imbedded into the wall under a dilapidated sink that was next to a toilet. But the commodities weren't what caught his eye, it was the peeled white walls that were scratched up with lines and hard to read writing. It looked like something out of a horror movie.

Lovino turned around to speak to the man who brought him here, but found the door shut and locked from the outside. He banged on the door harshly, hoping to catch someone's attention. On the other side, someone knocked back. "Stop that!" They growled before going silent again.

He pressed his ear to the door and heard the bald man who brought him here speaking to someone. "No, no, don't worry. How are you feeling?" The other person spoke, his voice tired. "I'm fine, yeah." "Alright… If you need anything just ask Jonas and I'll bring it. Yes, yes… Good night, God bless." He laughed along with the unknown person before a door closed.

The European wandered back to the bed, sitting down heavily among the scratchy blankets. He was suddenly overwhelmed with sleepiness and a soft yawn escaped his lips. "Screw it." Lovino muttered and slid under the covers, resting his head on the uncomfortable pillow.

"Lights out!" The man outside from before, who could only be assumed to be Jonas, shouted in the hallway before the harsh lights on the ceiling were switched off. Lovino felt irritated that this man turned off the lights, not wanting to admit he was grateful that the creepy room was unlit.

"Fuck off!" He slurred back, already half asleep. It didn't take long before his eyelids slid shut.

.oOo.

A bloodcurdling scream jolted Lovino from his slumber, forcing him to tumble off the mattress in alarm.

"Nothing is wrong with me!" A voice outside the wooden door pleaded, thumping against the cold walls. "I-I've been like this," the familiar sounding man continued. "It's nothing serious, I swear! The air, it's just too dry!"

Another voice, this one shrill and high strung, interrupted the ranting man. "That's contagious! Be reasonable, this is a major illness!" A woman's voice cut in, "you've gotten blood all over the blankets and mattress!"

"You need to get him out of here, Hunter, before he infects all of us!" The shrill voice screeched out. "I- come on, just let me stay here!" Hunter piped up and tried to defend the man, "ay, it's probably treatable, Veronica, the boy is right."

The voice replied in a low, dangerous hiss, "do you really want your family to die? Don't be stupid!" A loud smacking sort of sound ran through the hallways, making everyone go silent.

"Over my dead body you'll be staying here." The unnamed second woman, snarled and just the way her voice sounded made Lovino's eyes go wide.

_Please don't be talking about Alfred, please don't be talking about Alfred..._

"Sorry, kid, Johnny will believe Veronica and Madison over anyone else, even me." A soft, nasally sigh escaped Hunter, and Lovino could almost hear Veronica and Madison's smug smirks. He wanted to punch them, but dread settle in his stomach when he finally realised that they were, in fact, talking about Alfred.

"Get out of here, boy, we don't want your fucking germs." Veronica spat, venom dripping from her voice. Alfred grumbled something under his breath, making Madison snarl a loud 'what did you say?'

"Wait," Hunter piped up, "what about the Italian kid?" It made the women groan heavily, muttering about infection and garbage and dirty Italians. This made Lovino's blood boil.

"I'm pretty sure 'Vino is infected, since we been spending so much time together." Alfred added with a grin and the others huffed in irritation. "Just let them go, can't risk Missy gettin' sick again, now can we?" It seemed the man, Hunter, was trying to help them out.

"And we can't keep their things because those are probably infected too." Madison realised, and Alfred gave a soft chuckle.

_Had he been planning this?_

Lovino wanted to laugh along with Alfred, make fun of these stupid women who thought they were infected with something. Their ignorance was indeed bliss, but only for the travelling companions.

"Wake the shitmouthed kid up," Veronica complied with Madison's request, swinging the door open and hitting Lovino with surprisingly powerful force. This made him stumble back, coughing from the sudden hit to his diaphragm.

"Looks like the _dago_ was already awake," she taunted with a wicked snarl on her face. "Stai zitto, cagna!" The Italian snarled instinctively, face going red with anger and embarrassment at the slur she used to address him. "Speak English, _greaseball_!" She cackled and crossed her arms as if she was proud of herself.

Tears were pooling in Lovino's eyes, but it wasn't from hurt over the disgusting names. Far from it, he was fucking furious and he wanted her to know it. In the blink of an eye, the skinny brunet had landed a punch on the mousy haired woman's cracked, wrinkly face that earned him two terrified squeaks, a loud screech of pain, and a single whoop of amusement.

"Get off of her, you beast!" Madison cried, running toward the two figures that were more or less wrestling with each other on the hard cement ground inside Lovino's temporary room. The two didn't stop though, and she kept calling him _dago_ no matter how loud Lovino screamed at her to shut up.

"Do something about your... friend." Hunter said delicately, but his expression said he was getting quite the kick out of this.

Madison on the other hand was only smacking Lovino gently as if she was afraid the man would drag her in too. Hunter gave the blond a nudge which made Alfred step in and pry the angered Italian off the older woman easily, holding him tightly as he dragged Lovino back.

"Hey, hey, calm down." He soothed, ignoring how much his crying friend was thrashing and shouting to be let go. "Lovi... just listen to me," Alfred whispered, turning the brunet around to face him.

Lovino jerked his head away, sniffling loudly. "Fuck off, I don't need you to take care of me." He wrenched his body away from Alfred and pushed his arms off of him. The American responded by pulling him close and smothering him with a hug. But no matter how comforting it felt, Lovino kept fighting.

Behind them, Madison was helping Veronica with her bleeding nose and bruised cheek. She insisted she was alright, but the swelling of her right eye said otherwise.

"Just let me go!" He cried, smacking Alfred's chest repeatedly. "Y-You heard what she called me!" Now the slurs were really getting to him. "I'm going to make her take them back!" He threatened while wiping at his reddening eyes.

"Just calm down, Lovi... She's a white conservative republican, what do you expect?" Alfred attempted to make a joke, which earned a muffled snort from Lovino. He stood pridefully at making the Italian laugh, squeezing him a bit tighter.

"A-Alright, you don't have to fucking smother me." Lovino shoved him away and this time the blond really let go, pressing his fingers into Lovino's shoulder while looking at him sternly as a warning. The foreigner rolled his eyes and smacked his hand off, sniffling and wiping his cheeks.

"What are you still doing here?!" Madison snarled as she held Veronica protectively. Outside, they heard the heavy stomping of a pair of boots.

Jonas.

As soon as the bearded man stepped into the room, Veronica burst into sobs about racism and violence and being really tired. Of course Jonas bought her façade and turned to Lovino with rage burning in his eyes. "What did you do to her?" He stalked over to the standing duo with clenched fists.

Somewhere behind them, Hunter was attempting to pacify the group to no avail.

"WHAT DID YOU DO TO HER?" The greying man repeated, face turning red as little bits of spit dripped out of his mouth.

Lovino gagged when one of the drops landed on his cheek and he wiped it away pompously to show his obvious disgust. This only served to further anger the man and he lunged at Lovino, who ducked out of the way and watched him stumble to the wall.

Alfred was quite surprised that his companion didn't pummel the man as he did with Veronica and just assumed this was amusing to him. He went to interfere between the two which only earned him a hard shove against the wall from Jonas and one of Lovino's angry glares.

Lovino scuttled back as the taller man loomed over him. "Did you _beat_ an old woman?" Jonas hissed quietly and Lovino knew he was at the breaking point. "She called me a _dago_." He defended, resisting the urge to punch the elderly man square in the face. It seemed Jonas knew how he was feeling because he pressed uncomfortably close to him.

"What are you gonna do? Are you gonna beat an old man too?" He taunted, tilting his head so that his cheek faced Lovino. "Go on, punch me." Jonas tapped his jaw. "Give me a fat ol' bruise," he paused and chose his words carefully. "_Dago_." Behind the man, Alfred was slowly shaking his head. When the slur was uttered his movements were more furious and quick. He could see Lovino curl his fingers as he prepared himself to throw a punch.

'Don't do it.' Alfred mouthed, but either Lovino didn't see or just straight up ignored him.

.oOo.

"It wasn't my fault."

"I know."

"It wasn't my fault." He repeated forcefully, trudging through the thick snow surrounding them. They were lucky enough to have their clothes and masks returned to them because they were 'infected'.

"At least they didn't hurt us too badly." Alfred offered to cheer him up, laughing nervously when Lovino turned and revealed his bruised cheek, courtesy of Jonas.

After Jonas landed a hit, Alfred ran forward to pull him away from Lovino who had earned a bloody nose. Veronica and Madison screamed that the Italian was obviously infected as well, tears welling from their eyes as the blood dripped down Lovino's chin. Moments later, a trio consisting of two women and a man rushed in and hauled the foreigner and his friend away before throwing them out in the snow with their supplies following. Needless to say, the travelling companions were both now sick from the sudden introduction to the cold.

"Whatever," Lovino sniffled indifferently and continued to trek through the snowy dunes.

They walked in comfortable silence for almost an hour, neither making eye contact as they weaved their way into the outskirts of the decimated city. With Alfred leading the way, Lovino shuffled on behind him and tried not to bump into the huge backpack every time the American stopped to survey the area.

"Jesus fuck, Alfred, don't slow down unless you want me to fall on my ass!" Lovino cried after the umpteenth time he had clashed with pack. Alfred stopped and whirled around, causing his backpack to knock the feisty Italian into a pile of snow. "What? I didn't hear- holy shit, Lovino!" The blond burst into laughter at his companion, who was currently leaning into the pile covered in snow.

"Way to fucking go, asshole!" Lovino flailed as he tried to get up. "Gee, thanks for the help, Alfred." He sneered at his laughing friend sarcastically. "Oh God, I'm really sorry it's just-" Before he could continue explaining, Alfred was laughing again.

"You just flew!" He exclaimed with a snort and tearful eyes. A smile was practically splitting his face as he looked back at Lovino, holding in a laugh by biting his lip. Alfred gave a wryly smile as he tried to contain his glee. He leaned in close to Lovino's ear, causing the other to shift away in confusion.

"Nyoom."

Alfred barely finished whispering the word before he was howling with laughter, tears slipping down his cheeks. He stepped away to continue his fit and almost slipped as he walked in a slow circle to calm down.

Lovino groaned, rolling his head back into the snow as he tried to force away a smile. "You have a terrible sense of humour, you know." The Italian wondered if there was anything that _didn't_ make Alfred laugh.

He returned with a lopsided grin, blinking away the tears in his eyes. "Aw hell," the blue eyed man gave a breathy sort of laugh. "This is terrible. I can't even wipe my face cos of this mask." He was still smiling as he leaned toward Lovino and hauled him up.

"Fuck off," Lovino scowled with false irritation as he shook the snow out of the creases of his clothes. He smacked Alfred's mask playfully before fixing his backpack with a small grin. This made Alfred jump a bit and break into a wide grin.

"Alright… How's your headache now?" Lovino looked up at Alfred expectantly, having remembered him complaining about it. "Ah well, I've been better but it's clearing up now." He nodded softly, giving a small shrug.

"If you're tired, we can rest." The Italian offered even though he was mostly doing it for himself and the creeping sickness he felt. Alfred seemed to sense this and nodded with a small yawn. "Yeah, I'm getting kinda sleepy anyways."

They scoured the streets for a good thirty minutes before finding a suitable place to stay in. It was a cute little flower shop with frosted over windows covering up the flowery design on the glass. Inside, an aisle with pots upon pots of dead, withered up flowers lined either sign and led to the cash register. The purple and green paintjob was slightly peeling and faded, giving it a more creepy look than normal.

The duo shuffled down the lane in a hurry and slid over the counter onto the other side quietly. Alfred pointed out a door leading into the back and pushed past Lovino to open it.

They were expecting something more than what they found, but luckily for them it was just filled with more crackly flowers and dirt.

And so they spent some time clearing a space on the floor to set down their blankets and packs, mumbling to each other about stepping on their bedding every once in a while. They used the dead plants to make a decent sized fire and made a ring of dirt around it to hopefully control the fire.

Lovino kicked off his boots and sat near the fire, fiddling with the straps of the gas mask in his lap absentmindedly. It wasn't long before Alfred's stomach growled, making Lovino turn to face the man next to him. "The fuck was that?"

"I haven't eaten since they locked us up." Alfred grumbled and dug through his bag before pulling out a container of peanut butter. "Hey look," the younger man held up the jar with his thumb over the brand's slogan.

'_FUEL THE FU_'

"What?" He raised an eyebrow, unimpressed.

Alfred slid his thumb down a bit to reveal the top part of the capital 'n' on the jar. "It says fuel the fuck," he grinned cheekily and shook the peanut butter in amusement.

Lovino rolled his eyes, putting his mask down and snatching away the jar. "_Fuel the fun,_ idiot." He pointed at the last word.

"Ah, same thing." The blond grinned and winked at his companion, which earned him a scoff. He took back the peanut butter and opened it before rummaging through his bag again and pulling out a flimsy plastic spoon.

Alfred took a big scoop and licked it off the utensil with little difficulty. Lovino watched in slight disgust as the American struggled to eat the food that was sticking to the roof of his mouth and teeth.

"Jesus, don't you know how to eat properly?" Lovino crinkled his nose and eyed the sticky substance as if it was interesting just so he wouldn't have to look at Alfred. He took up the jar and scraped a little off the side before licking the spoon delicately.

Of course he didn't face the same problem as Alfred so he sat against his backpack and ate the peanut butter in amusement as his blue eyed companion continued to smack his lips in a desperate attempt to unstick it.

After Lovino was full and Alfred had the pleasure of going through the same process as before for the good part of an hour, they tucked the jar away and laid on their respective side of the thick blankets. They made sure to put out the fire with a lot of dirt and keep their weapons close as a precaution.

Lovino was about to fall asleep before he remember to ask Alfred what the whole commotion with the others was.

"Hey, Alfred." He turned around and nudged the blond with his foot. This earned him a soft hum and the pleasure to see Alfred's half sleeping face as he rolled over to face the Italian.

"What were those people shouting about? I heard one of the ladies saying that you bled all over their blankets. Did you cut yourself or something?" Lovino was curious about what sparked the older women's outrage and he was glad Alfred was so talkative for once.

"Ah, yeah," the sleeping figure shifted a bit, breathing a peanut butter smelling yawn into Lovino's face. "I had a nosebleed and it was pretty heavy, which sucked because I kinda got lightheaded."

The Italian's eyes widened in concern and he frowned a bit. "Are you sick?"

"Mmm… nah, the air was too dry so I guess that was it." Alfred shrugged lazily before relaxing.

"You sure?" Lovino didn't want to risk getting sick or being slowed down because his companion wasn't feeling well. It was better to catch the sickness early on and treat it than wait until it was too late.

He got a heavy snore and unpleasant smelling breath in his face again as a response, which prompted him to turn around. "Whatever…"

It took a couple minutes but eventually Lovino fell asleep, ignoring that Alfred's was a bit too close for comfort. He blamed his inability to move on the fact that he was just really really tired.

* * *

_Dago/greaseball: _a racial slur used to refer to Italians in America. Look it up for more information if you wish.

_A/N: By the way, I'm trying to keep the chapters less than 6K words because it might be difficult for some people to concentrate. So yeah. _

_Okay so thanks for reading, the next chapter should be out in maybe two weeks, three at most._


	4. Chapter 4

Hello again, dear reader! Apologies for the late update, I was in Oklahoma without access to a internet connected computer.

Anywho, this chapter has an indirect mention to blood, and also there is illness. Enjoy!

* * *

Lovino woke up before Alfred, which was hardly surprising. He sniffled a bit, coughing into his hand and cursing the people who had gotten him sick. Currently, he was trying to start another fire while wrapped up in his blanket. He had finally managed to get the flame of a lighter going before sneezing and effectively putting it out. "Fuck you," the cranky Italian hissed at the lighter, chucking it down into the dirt.

He sneezed once more before laying back down to sleep.

~/~

"Hey, Lovino," Alfred loomed over the sleeping figure's face. "Wake up, I have food ready." His voice was nasally and similar to that of a young boy. The blond shook his companion with a single hand, sitting Turkish style beside him as he gently rocked the brunet back and forth in a lazy trance. "Get up," he whined, rubbing his runny nose with the back of his hand.

It took a few tries but eventually Lovino woke up to Alfred poking and shaking him, ending in him slapping the blond's hands when he continued to prod at his torso.

"Here you go!" Alfred handed him a small can of heated beans, a beaming smile on his sick face. Lovino was quite the opposite, more scowls and grumblings than usual as he took the can swiftly.

The fire illuminated their tired faces and it was clear that they needed more sleep than they were getting, especially now that they were ill. They quietly huddled around the heat source, draped in blankets while they wore gloves and jackets.

"You're sweating," Alfred whispered, swiping his gloved thumb over a bead of sweat on Lovino's forehead. "That's cause I have a fucking fever." He snapped and shoved the other's hand away. "And you can't say much either because you're practically soaked with sweat." Lovino shivered in his spot and wiped his face slowly.

"Maybe we should just go to sleep." The American suggested, throwing a small amount of dirt at the flames. "We can leave the fire and just sleep near it, right?" To which Lovino agreed, realising they would have to wait for the sickness to run it's course.

He vaguely remembered his mother scolding him about going out into the cold without proper clothing; he always ignored this and went out anyways, which had him coming back inside sick and shivering..

Lovino shifted and lied down near the fire, feeling the heat of the flame lap at his face gently. From Alfred's angle, the bags under the other's eyes were dark and bold, beads of sweat collecting at his lip and brow. Not that Alfred had room to talk, with his disheveled hair and sweaty face.

They laid there for what seemed like hours, and probably was, but it wasn't like they could really know since neither had a watch. It could be five in the morning or seven in the afternoon.

It was clear to Alfred that Lovino hadn't gotten enough sleep because even when he was resting, he looked worn and tired; too old to be twenty two.

While Lovino slept, Alfred stayed awake after promising himself to act as a guard. He watched the older man curiously, wondering if he was bundled up enough. But he didn't move and preferred to be wrapped in his own blankets, safe from the biting cold that blew around in the flower shop on the other side of the wall.

~/~

"We should get going." Lovino yawned and rubbed his face to get rid of the crusting around his eyes. At least his nose wasn't bleeding anymore, and the swelling of his cheek has gone down.

"Careful," Alfred grunted and scooted up to Lovino with a dampened rag. "You're still all bloody." Lovino took the rag with a grateful hum and began to wipe his face.

After he was done he could have been mistaken for a total stranger. "Wow, look," the American practically sat on Lovino as he grabbed his face, while the other let out a startled shriek as he fought back. "No, no, you have freckles! Oh, goddammit stop moving—"

They wrestled on the ground for a couple moments, limbs flying with more than a couple swears thrown in. Lovino somehow managed to pin Alfred down, sitting on his stomach as he tried to keep the advantage. "I will punch you in the dick if you do that again." He recited one of his empty threats, which earned him a broad smile from the man under him.

"Aw, that's mean. But I'll let you do it," Alfred squirmed to push Lovino down to his legs, laughing as the other tried to steady himself. "If you can, I mean." And suddenly Lovino was face to face with the bright, grinning blond he was currently sitting on. Another moment later and he was on his back, hands pinned above his head.

"I don't see how you could punch me if you can't even use your hands." Alfred teased, careful not to crush Lovino under him. His knees were on either side of the slim Italian's legs, holding them together so he wouldn't be kicked.

"That's not fair!' The other protested, thrashing underneath the younger man. "Get off me, Sasquatch!" Lovino practically growled up at Alfred, who was laughing wildly and struggling to keep his balance at the same time.

"I swear to God, if you fall on me I'm going to die!" He exclaimed, although irritated, Lovino was trying to suppress the smile and laughter bubbling from his lips. Yet he kept squirming in a desperate attempt to somehow get the 138 pound male off of him.

"I won't fall!" Alfred insisted, grinning down at him. He kept his grip on Lovino's wrists firm, but not tight enough to hurt, so the other couldn't possibly push him back down. He was a bit surprised that he could have this much fun with Lovino, despite always believing he was uptight and irritable.

"So quick question," the blond shifted a bit, almost sitting down on Lovino's stomach before he remembered just how much bigger he was. "I saw you in those socks and pink pants." The blood seemed to drain from Lovino's tanned cheeks before rushing back tenfold and lighting up his face.

"Fuck off, it keeps me warm." He snapped, turning his head in a futile attempt to hide his face. "Besides, you were wearing something far worse than I was," Lovino shifted and gave a mischievous smirk. "I've seen your Ninja Turtle boxers."

The Italian could recall watching Alfred the night fighting ensued with the other Americans quite well. It was a brief moment but he remembered the bunched up face of a grinning Michelangelo poking out from under the other's taut grey sweatpants.

A strange sight indeed, but Lovino had to admit that he was staring for a couple seconds. Of course, at the cartoon turtles and not Alfred's ass, which he just _happened_ to notice was probably the result of doing an impressive number of squats.

Turtles, right.

"I don't even know how you can wear those when you're already in college!" He teased Alfred mercilessly, pointing out that only seven year old boys wore Ninja Turtle underpants. And Alfred turned crimson, trying to defend himself even though it was useless. Lovino laughed, shaking his head.

"You could have worn anything, seriously. But Ninja Turtles?"

"Pink joggers and brown socks are hardly any better!" Alfred bit back, now over his embarrassment with a wide, playful smile on his face.

"Pft, I looked good in those clothes!" Lovino rolled his eyes, shifting his hands a bit.

Alfred tightened his grip, smirking down at the Italian. "Just give up and I'll let go."

He half hoped Lovino would refuse and keep fighting with him. After all, he had been alone and bored since this started and even then it was never really this fun with the people he encountered.

"It's going to take more than holding down for me to give up." Lovino retorted smugly, sticking his tongue out at Alfred.

Lovino was surprised at his answer, not having ever remembered agreeing to wrestle around with Alfred. He never really had fun like this unless it was with his brother, but that was a long time ago when his parents were a little less dead and he was a little less bitter.

"That's fine, I can stay here all day," the American shrugged in a nonchalant manner, letting go of Lovino's wrists and instead sitting back on his legs. He stared down at the other, a lopsided grin gracing his face. "If you don't believe me, we can test that theory."

Lovino wriggled back a little and sat up quickly, becoming slightly flustered when his nose bumped against Alfred's chest.

_God damn, he is fucking jacked... And smells like a garbage truck._

"Get off me," he grumbled and pushed his hands against the other's chest. "I don't want your fatass squishing me."

Alfred only laughed, his chest rising and moving Lovino's hands as he did so. "You hurt my feelings, Lovi." He flashed a cheeky grin at the Italian and put his chin on the other's head with his arms draped over the Italian's shoulders. Lovino protested with an embarrassed blush and shoved his face away.

"Hey—!" Alfred was cut off by a strangled cough, his hands covered his mouth quickly as he turned away. Eyes wide, he gagged into his hand and climbed off of Lovino, stumbling to the far corner of the room.

"Alfred…?" Lovino staggered to his feet, only stopping when he heard the sound of the younger man puking and hacking. "Oh God…" He shuffled closer to him, flinching when Alfred gagged and threw up even more.

Another step and he was beside Alfred, rubbing his back in awkward comfort. He dared a look at the floor where all the puke was pooling but at the last moment Alfred stood up straight, gasping and wheezing for air. Of course this diverted Lovino's attention.

"Uh, let's get away from here," Lovino mumbled and pulled the sick man toward their dwindling fire. Alfred's eyes were watery and he croaked an apology, sniffling and wiping his mouth. He coughed softly into his hand before swallowing down half of a water bottle to rid himself of the taste.

"I'm sorry," the American repeated quietly. He was embarrassed and ashamed Lovino had to endure him barfing up his stomach, it made his cheeks burn just thinking about it. Thankfully, Lovino wasn't his usual self in light of the recent events and he tried his best to comfort Alfred. It was weird.

"We'll leave in a bit, once you feel better." The Italian informed, giving a sympathetic smile to the blond, who gave a weak smile in return.

It smelled horrible in the room, and Lovino was most definitely not going to endure that stench for any longer than he had to. Hopefully this wouldn't happen again, and they were lucky it happened while they were resting and not while travelling.

So they sat by the flickering flames quietly, lost in their own heads as they drifted off to sleep yet again. And of course Alfred was already snoring himself into the next millennia, slumped over himself in what seemed like the most uncomfortable position in the universe. Lovino tried to ignore the shadows dancing on the walls around him and closed his eyes to block them out.

What he couldn't block out, though, was the heavy stench in the air he generally associated with the smell of his grandfather's old change jar, kept in the window of his study. When the sun would hit the jar and the whole room would smell like metal. It made him sick. And apparently not so oblivious anymore.

Lovino jumped to his feet and grabbed a piece of wood that was burning to use as a makeshift torch before making his way to the putrid smelling corner. He covered his mouth and nose hastily before leaning down and putting the diminishing fire near the ground.

His blood ran cold, eyes wide and disbelieving at the sight before him.

That couldn't be right.

Surely…

But that would explain the nasty smell wafting through the room.

That would explain the strange shade of colour that painted Alfred's lips.

Lovino dropped the wood and stumbled away, shaking his head at himself.

_This is just a dream… None of this makes sense, so it has to be a dream._

Now he was starting to feel sick.

_Why? Why? Why?_

He sat down against the wall, facing the flames that lit up Alfred's sleeping form.

It evaded Lovino as to why Alfred would say nothing about this and he grew more and more concerned that this was a long-time thing.

And, God, was Lovino getting desperate.

He wanted another reality, another explanation as to _why_ this was happening.

He wanted to rip his hair out because he just _couldn't_ understand this.

And then the cold reality hit him.

Because Alfred shouldn't have thrown up that much.

Because it shouldn't _smell_ this bad.

Because the wall and the floor should not be splattered with blood the way they were.

* * *

I actually meant for this is be cute and fluffy but then I changed my mind and decided to do this.

You're welcome.


	5. Chapter 5

Wow okay so it's been too long since I've updated. Sorry about that. Anyways, I'm sorry for the length of this chapter, it's 3,000+ words and even edited some chunks out to reduce the size. Besides that, enjoy the chapter, I've started on chapter 6 already too.

* * *

For what seemed like the longest time, Lovino sat against the wall and watched Alfred. Everytime the other would shift or even twitch, the hairs on the back of his neck would stand up and goosebumps would run down his arms. He was riddled with anxiety that wouldn't go away no matter how much he told himself it would be okay.

The room still smelled horrible and Lovino was itching to wake up Alfred so they could finally leave. So he stood and nudged the blond with his foot gently. Alfred rolled over onto his back, groaning and complaining about having a headache.

This time it was Lovino who threw up.

Well, just a little in his mouth.

Alfred's nose and lips were smeared with dried blood and the streak of red continued down his cheek, leaving a distinguishable dark spot on the black sleeve of his shirt. The American didn't even seem to notice until he looked up and saw Lovino's pale face, wide eyed with trembling fingers covering his mouth in shock.

"What the fuck?" Lovino gaped, voice soft.

"I-I dunno," the American mumbled, moving back and sitting up with his legs crossed. This only served to further anger Lovino, who was red faced and on the verge of screaming his head off.

It was unacceptable, really. Did Alfred not trust him or something? Lovino almost got up to leave because he was worried Alfred would lie straight to his face, he expected it actually. And that was what he got.

* * *

"I guess I just banged up my nose or bit my tongue while I was sleeping."

When Alfred shrugged as if it was no big deal, Lovino clenched his fists to keep from throttling the blond. He closed his eyes and muttered something under his breath in Italian before reopening his eyes and flashing Alfred a murderous look.

"Don't you dare lie to me, bastard," he sneered, scooting closer and poking his finger accusingly to Alfred's chest. It made the other lean back, blue eyes darting away in uneasiness. He swallowed thickly, leaning back on his hands to get away from Lovino's cold glare.

"I went back to look where you threw up," the Italian remarked, his eyes flickering to said corner and then back to Alfred. "You know what I saw?" Alfred didn't say anything but the nervous shifting of his hips and shoulders gave everything away. "More than half of that puke was blood. It's all over the wall and floor, don't tell me you don't fucking smell that."

Of course he could smell it, and he wanted to tell Lovino everything. The only thing that kept him from telling the truth was his fear of the consequences. He simply bowed his head and gave a soft sigh. His mind was desperately searching for some viable excuse to ease Lovino's anger and worry.

"I have, uh, ulcers," Alfred lied and even went as far as blushing to show obvious embarrassment. "I never told you 'cause it's dumb and I didn't want you to baby me." Not that he would mind some pampering anymore, even from someone sharp-tongued like Lovino. He would have to work on that.

"Ulcers." Lovino echoed softly, cheeks burning pink suddenly in embarrassment. Of course it was. What else could it have been? He internally scolded himself for being so worried and unreasonable.

Shit, I'm starting to sound like a parent…

He rubbed the back of his neck and leaned back on his ankles. "Well you could've said something earlier you know," Lovino huffed and looked down. "It smells disgusting… let's get out of here." He couldn't believe he made such a big deal over something like ulcers, it was embarrassing to be so panicked over something so dumb.

Alfred almost felt bad for lying to Lovino, who clearly cared about him more than he originally thought. Maybe he would have felt ashamed if his very life didn't depend on it. Thankfully, the Italian bought the lie and was now gathering up his stuff in his backpack quietly.

The blond sat with his face in his hands as he tried to calm down. His heart beat erratically in the cavity of his chest, reminding him of the feeling he experienced when his previous group had deserted him because of his illness.

Lovino won't leave me, right? He isn't that kind of person… He's actually super nice and sweet! Only heartless bastards would leave someone alone like that.

Alfred had the dreaded feeling that maybe Lovino was only with him out of pity. His stomach lurched at the nasty thought, making him groan into his hands.

It's always the hot ones, huh? Wait- what the fuck?

He lifted his head up, frowning at his hands as he mentally scolded himself for thinking that Lovino was hot. Well he didn't think, he knew. That was totally inappropriate though, right? Seriously, this was the end of the world. But all Alfred could think about now was the curl of Lovino's lips when he grinned and smirked. He looked like a good kisser.

Glancing back at the Italian, he caught the startling view of the other bent over, wrestling to shove an unfolded blanket into the backpack. He wasn't really complaining…

Nice.

He chewed his lower lip, taking in the curve of the pink fabric against Lovino's ass without much concern. It vaguely crossed his mind that maybe the other was doing it on purpose, but it was more likely than not he was wrong. Oh well, it's not like there was anyone else to appreciate Lovino's struggle but him.

Uh, shit… Haha, that was weird.

Alfred turned his head away as much as he could while still keeping his sights on Lovino, who was cursing at the blanket for being so thick. He snickered and covered his mouth so the Italian wouldn't hear him before he stood up and sauntered over.

"Here, let me help," he offered, reaching for the black bundle. Lovino grumbled something in Italian and sat down on the floor, crossing his legs to signal defeat. "Stupid fucking blanket doesn't want to fit…" He huffed, pouting and glaring at the blanket Alfred was folding. "I could have done that,"

"Why didn't you then?" Alfred winced at how shitty that sounded, and he bit his lip anxiously, hoping Lovino wouldn't hit him. Thankfully, the Italian only rolled his eyes and weakly kicked him in the calf.

"There!" He stuffed the blanket in the backpack again and zipped it up quickly. "I think that's it, so we can get going now!" Alfred smacked his lips a bit, feeling saliva pool in his mouth quickly.

Oh, shit.

"I-I'm going to go check outside, okay?" He ran to pull on his other clothes and boots, not bothering to even tie up the laces as he grabbed his gas mask before running out. Lovino was left alone in the smelly room to get dressed, not bothering to hurry.

Outside, Alfred had ducked into the nearest alleyway, dropping the mask from his face to barf into the snow. The slight grey tinge of the ground was now dark red, a steady stream making its way between Alfred's legs.

"Wh- no, no-!" He croaked, wiping his mouth quickly and kicking snow over the puddle of red and the streak escaping from it. Frantically trying to stop the puke from going anywhere else, he kept dumping loose snow everywhere around the spot. It wouldn't be long before Lovino came out and got suspicious about it. Despite the sting in his throat from the air, he kept shovelling. Even when he coughed up tiny specks of blood, he didn't stop until the area was completely covered.

Taking a seat against the wall of the flower shop, he eased the mask onto his flushed face, breathing heavily. It concerned him how much that had taken out of him, for he was not the kind of person to get exhausted easily.

Must be a symptom...

Lovino appeared with the two backpacks dragging behind him not a moment later, his mask secured onto his face. The two rifles were strapped over his unoccupied arm, clacking together quietly. He threw the heavier of the two packs at Alfred, who groaned when it landed on him.

"Get up, we have a lot of ground to cover," Lovino situated the backpack comfortably before stepping over a lump of ice and kneeling beside Alfred. He nudged his thigh with one of the rifles gently, a concerned look flashing behind his eyes.

"Are you still sick?" His voice was soft, probably because he had a headache, but it was soft nonetheless. He balanced Alfred's rifle in the snow, careful with how he handled it.

"No, actually, I'm feeling better," Alfred said hoarsely, taking in a deep breath before standing up and gathering his things. He took the weapon from Lovino, who was hesitant to get up. "I'm fine, really, though my nose is kinda stuffy… I'll live."

"Right," the Italian settled his own rifle in his arms, steadying himself as he stood next to Alfred. "Let's go then, yeah?" With a quick glance up at the blond, he watched the other take the lead down the deserted street.

~/~

"You couldn't possibly think an octopus has a chance against a shark!" Alfred exclaimed, throwing an arm around Lovino and ignoring the annoyed grunt he got from it. Alfred didn't move away. He just liked being close to Lovino.

"I think you need to rephrase that," Lovino scoffed, jabbing the blond in the side playfully. "An octopus has tentacles and stuff, the shark won't even know what hit him." He smirked, looking up at Alfred in a cocky manner. "So shark loses, octopus wins."

"Wrong!" Alfred patted Lovino on the head. Or at least where his head would've been had all the shawls not covered it. "The octopus only has one small beak, but the shark has tons of big, sharp teeth. He'd rip that octopus a new one!"

"I'm pretty sure octopus has, like, a poisonous beak or something."

"Pfft, it doesn't count because you don't know!"

"Whatever, you're just being whiny because I won."

"Am not!"

"Are too."

A loud crack that rung through the air cut off Alfred mid-argument. The noise echoed around the empty street momentarily and Alfred went pale. He looked around them frantically, gripping Lovino's arm as he tugged him into an alleyway.

"W-What's wrong?" Although the Italian had next to no clue what was going on, he was visibly shaken by the sudden change in demeanour of the blond. Alfred only shushed him, pinning him up against a wall directly under the fire escape.

"Get the fuck off me!" Lovino hissed as quietly as he could manage, clacking their gas masks together for attention. The American paid no heed to his friend; he was busy looking upwards.

Lovino thought he was praying for a second until he, too, looked up through the landings of the fire escape and saw a dark figure leaning over the edge of the building. They didn't have a mask on but they were carrying something in their arms; something big. It looked like a rifle. The bipod mount held in the person's hand confirmed something far worse.

"Oh my god," Alfred looked down at Lovino, eyes wide and mouth agape. He was breathing fast and hard, fingers wrapping around Lovino's wrist. "We need to get out of here. Now." Alfred whispered, leaning so close to Lovino that he could see the small freckles dotting his face. He didn't loosen his grip even when the other tried to pull away.

"We're fucking dead." Alfred's breath hitched when he heard the clang of someone landing on the fire escape. The person paused and Alfred heard the distinct clicking of a gun slider being pulled back. "They're going to shoot us..." His pressed closer, fingers instinctively gripping even tighter around Lovino's wrist.

"S-Stop! You're scaring me, you jackass." Lovino croaked out, trying to tug away his arm. This proved to be very hard with such a small space to move back to. It wasn't what Alfred was saying that scared him the most, of course that played a part, but the painful grip he had on his wrist was more alarming than anything else.

Alfred looked down at Lovino, whose trembling lips were accompanied by tear filled eyes. "It- it really fucking hurts..."

He immediately let go.

"Shit- I'm so, so sorry, Lovi." Alfred whispered, trying to sooth the pain by giving his wrist a gentle massage. He ignored the pang of guilt that flashed through him. "Crap, I-I didn't mean to do that... I was just scared, I'm sorry. It's just…" He took a shaky breath, "that's a sniper."

Their assaulter was already making their way down the second set of stairs, boots clanking heavily on the metal as they descended. By the sound of it, it was either an extremely tall man, or a very masculine woman. Alfred looked up momentarily and decided the appearance of the person was not in favour of the latter.

"We can't move, or he'll see us," Alfred shifted so that one of his legs was between Lovino's. "Stand still, don't even twitch." He pulled Lovino's trembling hands between them, mumbling reassurances to the Italian.

Lovino looked up at Alfred through his lashes, lips still quivering. Maybe he was just cold. Maybe. "What if they decide to come down here? We'll be seen." The look Alfred gave him suggested that the blond had not thought about that situation.

The boots above them suddenly stopped and the creaking of the metal suggested the person was leaning over the edge.

"You know what? We'll cross that bridge when we get there." Alfred's voice was so soft Lovino could barely hear him.

"Well, we're about to cross that bridge because they're practically backflipping down here." Lovino hissed, trying to lean forward only to have Alfred press his hips into Lovino's lower stomach and effectively stopping him. "Don't even think about it."

A strange shuffling noise made them both squeeze their eyes shut, anticipating the worst. The soft thump that followed sent chills up Alfred's spine, but he didn't dare open his eyes to confirm the fear.

The sound of a gun cocking made Alfred squish closer against Lovino, even though that was probably impossible now.

"Back up," a heavily accented voice interrupted Lovino in the middle of his 'preparing for death' prayer. Oh, well. He was a bad Catholic anyways.

Alfred complied with the man's orders, shuffling backwards off of Lovino. Embarrassingly enough, Lovino's fingers were wrapped tightly around Alfred's coat, prohibiting him from moving away too much.

Lovino quickly pulled away his hands.

"Drop your rifles." The blond man said calmly, motioning with his gun to the floor and then flicking his wrist to the side in an indication they kick them away too. They would have put up more of a fight had a .22 not been pointed at them.

"Anything else?"

Lovino threw a switchblade down while Alfred dropped a handgun next to his rifle. His eyes were hard and his jaw was set as he stared evenly at the other man, despite the slight height difference. Lovino wanted to smack him.

"What are you doing in my territory?" The man stepped closer to Alfred, who only continued to glare. No one noticed because of the mask.

"We don't know what you're talking about."

The American's primary train of thought was to look calm and collected in front of Lovino, who, for some reason, he wanted to impress. Probably an act so that Lovino would forget about the whole 'grabbing your wrist really tight' thing earlier. It seemed like it was working.

"I know you're John's boys." The man said it like it was supposed to mean something to them.

"Who the hell is John?" Lovino deadpanned, crossing his arms. The name kind of sounded familiar, but he wasn't about to get them both killed based on a hunch he had.

The man's eyes narrowed suspiciously as he sized up the duo. He was careful to keep his face void of any emotion.

"You're the sick one." He tilted his chin up at Alfred, whose shoulders went slack. Lovino glanced sideways at his friend, a shocked look scrawled across his face.

"H-How the hell did you know that?" Alfred suddenly demanded, hands trembling. So much for being calm and collected.

"Everyone knows. John told us." The man gave him a look that suggested this as obvious information.

"What?"

~/~

And so after slowly gaining enough trust to get their weapons back from him, they introduced themselves properly to the Swedish man now known as Berwald. The tall man told them about how Dallas was divided into territories amongst groups as a clever way to avoid too much conflict. Berwald just happened to be one of the most feared men in the area, right after John. A sniper rifle and careful aim is not something desirable in an enemy.

Alfred didn't mention that he had, apparently, been travelling throughout the territories unaware of the danger.

Currently, they were sitting inside a dilapidated building that Alfred suspected to be Berwald's 'home'. The wooden table was dust free and littered with rings where cups would sit for too long, full of notches and scratches. Lovino could have sworn there was even the mark of a crayon.

"Wait, wait," Alfred shook his head quickly as if to clear his thoughts. "From what you've told me, you have pretty good aim and a decent rifle, right?"

The man nodded.

"So why did you shoot next to Lovino's feet instead of at his head?" Alfred turned to Lovino, whose mouth was agape.

"He-" The Italian didn't finish his sentence as Alfred interrupted him quickly.

"Oh, yeah, that's how I knew there was a sniper around here. What I couldn't figure out was why the bullet was in the ground and not in your brain." He clicked his tongue, tapping his finger at the side of Lovino's head as if demonstrating the area Berward should have hit. The Italian frowned and pushed away his hand.

"Warning shot. Didn't want conflict." The Swede answered smoothly, crossing his arms.

"Oh, well, that makes sense." Alfred nodded, scratching his chin and nodding. Lovino rolled his eyes.

"So, where'd you get your rifle? Uh, it's an older model... probably a TRG-42. I didn't get a good look." He flashed a sheepish smile, as if not being able to identify the dull green rifle was embarrassing. "Still, it's in pretty good condition considering it was used in the early 2000's. I didn't think they made anymore of those."

"They don't. They're outdated." Berwald shifted and the wooden chair creaked underneath him. He pulled out a picture from inside his jacket, staring at it momentarily before flipping it to show the younger men. "He gave it to me."

Lovino caught a glimpse of a date scribbled on the back. 25/12/34 There was a heart underneath and a couple lines of some language he couldn't understand.

The picture showed a chubby cheeked man with blond hair partially covered by a black beanie, excited purple eyes, and the most genuine smile any of them had ever seen. He was wearing a camo jacket over a black turtleneck, a drab green rifle was positioned in his arms and mostly out of the picture.

"Cool, so I was right! Finnish snipers are totally badass!" Alfred grinned, tapping his fingers on the gas mask sitting in front of him.

That's Tino Väinämöinen, the Finnish sniper. He's the guy those bastards wouldn't let leave the country when he went to visit… and they drafted him into the war. Holy shit… Berwald... Fuck, Berwald Oxenstierna is his husband.

Lovino's mind wandered away from the conversation as he began putting together all the pieces of the puzzle. He caught Berwald's eye, and the look the Swede gave him was one of warning.

Shit, shit, shit, he knows I know.

Lovino looked away and didn't say anything.

"D'ya know Lovino here is a world famous architect? He designed this twisting skyscraper in Italy!" Alfred's chest puffed out in pride.

"I'm not world famous, idiot." He huffed, supporting his head in his hand as his unoccupied fingers tapped at the table. "It's just a big tower full of plants." Lovino thought to ask exactly how Alfred knew about the Torre Giardino before the other interrupted.

"Yeah, but I bet it looks real pretty! So, so, what's it called, hmm?" Alfred smiled mischievously, leaning against Lovino. "I heard you mumbling when you were sleeping. You said something about how you weren't going to change the design. And then you said something else but I couldn't understand it 'cause you were speaking Spanish!"

"Italian." Lovino corrected, glaring a little. Alfred ignored him.

"Don't you wanna hear about his twisty tower too?" He leaned toward Berwald and the sparkle of Alfred's eyes was too endearing to say 'no' to, so Berwald just nodded. The twisting tower sounded interesting anyways.

"See, Lovi? Everyone wants to know about your wicked cool tower of plants!"

And so the trio wasted hours talking first about the Torre Giardino and everything about it, including the plants and filtration system and the solar panels all over it. The conversation eventually gravitated to Air Vice-Marshal Mikkel Densen and his supermodel girlfriend Sigrid Thomassen. Alfred seemed to be a big fan of the air marshal, noting how Densen was only a couple years older than him but was already a high ranking officer in the RDAF. Not long after that, Alfred piped up about where they were going.

Berwald advised they stay clear of anything west of the McCommas Bluff Landfill, which sat between two major freeways. He said it belonged to a large group of teenagers who, despite how silly and airhead they appeared, were ruthless and wouldn't hesitate to kill someone who crossed into their territory.

It all seemed like a stretch to Lovino, but he listened to what the Swedish man had to say, taking careful note of where they should cross to get out of Dallas. They were so, so close to getting out. Less than two miles stood between them and figurative freedom.

At last, they said their goodbyes to Berwald and wished him luck, even if they were the ones who needed it most. They set off down the street with Berwald sitting back at his perch, watching them leave with just the smallest hint of loneliness in his eyes.

The wind picked up around Berwald and all he could think of was the sick little British boy sitting downstairs in bed.

* * *

Well last time I forgot to put in the last chapter that the Fuel the Fuck joke is a thing that happened to me. I saw a jar of peanut butter and thought it said that, embarrassingly enough. Anyways, the octopus vs shark convo is a real conversation I had with my friend.

Alright, so Mikkel Densen is obviously Denmark, and Sigrid Thomassen is nyo!Norway. The little British boy is Sealand, Berwald and Tino are Sweden and Finland, respectively.

RDAF is the Royal Danish Air Force, and apparently Den is Air Vice-Marshal, which is directly below Air Marshal. People often refer to Air Vice-Marshals simply as Air Marshals.

Last thing, the McCommas Bluff Landfill is actually I real thing, I used google maps to figure out where they were, so yeah.


	6. Chapter 6

Alright, here's the new chapter! I'm not too happy with it, in reality, and the last sentence is a bit wonky and weird because I didn't know how to end it...

Anyways, I'm super happy thanks to all the new follows and reviews! I appreciate that you guys have feedback and (especially) constructive criticism. I'm always looking to improve my writing and you guys are definitely helping me with that, so big thanks and a big hug too!

Enjoy~

* * *

"Come on, come on, let me tell you another joke!"Alfred pleaded, tugging on Lovino's arm like a child. He had been telling jokes for the last half hour and, frankly, Alfred had a terrible sense of humour.

"Alright," Lovino finally gave in, pushing Alfred away a little. "And afterwards we'll sit down to eat."

They had passed the dump a couple hours ago and were well out of Dallas by now, walking at a more relaxed pace. They had been extra cautious of their surroundings and hadn't stopped at all until they were sure the large city was far behind them.

"Let's eat first, 'cos I'm hungry!" Alfred began walking faster, latching onto Lovino's wrist and dragging him along. They walked the warped, ice covered road, weaving in between the asymmetrical lumps and overturned cars in an attempt to look for a suitable place to stop.

They came upon a half buried black semi with the driver's side door hanging open, almost to the point where it wasn't connected to the actual vehicle anymore. It's trailer had overturned a couple hundred metres away, ripped open from the top by a morphed SUV.

"Hey, that looks good." Alfred pointed vaguely and wrapped his arm around Lovino's waist, just barely under his backpack, hoisting him up like he weighed nothing. He scrambled up the snowy mound and hugged Lovino close as he did so.

"Wh-What the hell're you doing?" Lovino groaned through the mask, pushing away from the taller blond and kicking his legs around. "I have legs and I can walk by myself!" Alfred continued to walk, laughing as Lovino squirmed.

"I saw you," he paused, hauling them both up a lump of ice. "Limping." Another pause. "When we climbed up that bridge I saw you slip, y'know, that was when you said you hurt your wrist. I didn't see you limping before though, so I guess it got worse." He explained and continued to climb, even though he struggled to keep his grip on Lovino.

"It's not _that_ bad, Alfred, I can still walk." Lovino took Alfred's momentary hesitation to slip out of his arms and climb up the hill by himself. "See? Fucking perfect." He slipped a little in the snow as he made his way to the door, gripping it tightly when Alfred came up behind him suddenly.

"Looks in pretty good shape," he leaned in closer, inspecting the inside carefully. Alfred was about to voice his opinions on the condition of the cabin before Lovino climbed in without warning and made his way to the sleeping area in the back.

Alfred let out a short huff, climbing in after his Italian friend.

"_Holy shit!_"

Alfred took another step in before he saw the blur of Lovino rush toward him, effectively knocking him out of the truck and landing them both in the snow. He felt the air leave his lungs as Lovino landed on top of him.

"Oh my God," he croaked, tears clouding his vision from the pain blooming in his chest. "I think I'm dying." Alfred wheezed and gasped for air as Lovino crawled off him. Somewhere to his left, he could hear Lovino stumbling around.

He heard the brunet heave and all the pain in his chest was gone.

Alfred was by Lovino's side in an instant.

"Shit, Lovino, are you okay?" Lovino choked out an apology, turning away from Alfred to spare him the disgusting scene. "Hey, hey, it's fine." He soothed, unperturbed by the vomit covering his boots.

"What did you see, Lovino?" Alfred asked once he was sure his friend was done throwing up completely. "Was it, like, a… body?" And Lovino nodded as he wiped away the spit from his mouth, tears forming in his eyes as he looked away.

_Fuck..._

Lovino was more than embarrassed about the scene he had made, and even guilty he had knocked Alfred over. He wasn't about to pretend he didn't hear Alfred choking when he landed on him.

They both stepped away from the vomit staining the snow with Lovino muttering how disgusting it was and Alfred wanting to say it was fine, that it was natural. He didn't say anything.

"Well… Where are we gonna stay now?" Lovino eased the mask back onto his face, coughing a few times from the condition of the air. "There's a dead guy on the floor… I stepped on him." He admitted quietly, stomach churning as he remembered.

"I can drag him out... we can't go anywhere else unless you wanna try prying open a frozen car door." Alfred gave Lovino's shoulder a quick squeeze as he climbed into the truck, sending the other a smile before he disappeared behind the thick black curtain.

He came out a few moments later, dragging a frozen corpse behind him.

"Turn around, will you?" Alfred looked over his shoulder to make sure Lovino had turned around, which he had, before hauling the body out into the snow and letting him roll down the mound of snow stiffly.

~/~

"We should have buried him," Lovino said suddenly, his fingers gripping the can of chicken breast tightly. Alfred looked up from his corn, peas, and carrots, a sympathetic look on his face. "Even if we wanted to, the ground is frozen solid." He edged closer to Lovino, quietly offering him a spoonful of food, to which Lovino agreed.

They had figured out quite quickly how to close the door without completely tearing it off it's hinges. Thanks to Alfred, they weren't sitting in the freezing cold.

"This is fucking disgusting." Lovino looked down at his chicken with a nasty expression. "The– the chicken water smells horrible and I want a warm meal, dammit!" Despite his anger, he took another chunk of chicken and swallowed it, still glaring at the can.

Alfred laughed, almost choking on his spoon. "Dude, honestly, this is all I found in my bag. I would totally cook for you if we found better stuff." A slight blush appeared on his cheeks as he imagined actually cooking for Lovino. It was kind of absurd.

_That seems pretty nice… It'll never happen, but it seems nice._

"Hey, Lovi, what do you think of hamburgers?" He leaned against the wall, crossing one of his legs and swallowing down another spoonful of vegetables. "I think they're pretty good, you know, if they're made right."

Lovino knocked his foot against Alfred's as he moved his leg over, wiggling his black sock covered toes. "Hamburgers are disgusting, or at least all the ones I've had. They're probably all the same anyways." He leaned forward, resting his elbows on his legs as he offered his chicken to the blond.

"When all this is over, I'll make you the best hamburgers you've ever eaten and you won't wanna eat anything else!" He grinned as he scooped up a piece of chicken.

Lovino scoffed and he didn't know if it was because Alfred insisted his cooking was just that good, or if he genuinely believed this would end.

"We should go to a gas station and look for more food if we want to have enough for the trip." Lovino glanced at his backpack, mentally counting how many cans he remembered were left.

_24… Definitely not enough if I don't want to starve._

"Don't worry, I have that figured out already!" Alfred jumped up, startling Lovino with his sudden movements. He dug through his bag, pulling out a faded and torn up map.

"I specifically chose this road because I drive down to Houston through here, 'cos it's faster and there's this gas station that literally no one visits. So... I just assumed that if no one went there before the war, they wouldn't go there now, right? It's probably still full of stuff!" Alfred looked up at Lovino, a wide smile on his face as he waited for a response.

"Oh… That's actually smart…" Lovino nodded slightly, smiling the tiniest bit when Alfred's face lit up. "We'll leave when we wake up then, right?" Alfred nodded, folding up the map carefully and tucking it into his backpack again.

"Man, I think I finished like two cans, I'm full as hell!" He looked down at his belly, patting it with a grin. "I don't think I'll be able to move... I guess I'll have to sleep up here." He set his now empty can of vegetables down under the mattress and stretched out his legs parallel to Lovino's.

"Wait– I have a great idea!" Alfred picked up the blankets from the floor, piling them on top of himself and his companion. " We should both sleep up here, you know, since we don't have a fire or anything like that. I don't know about you, but I'd rather not get sick again."

Lovino agreed, and Alfred gave a soft 'hell yeah' as the Italian slid off the bed to fix the blankets. He spread out the thinnest blankets on the mattress, forcing Alfred stand up.

"I miss pillows." Lovino grumbled, placing the thickest blanket on top of the others before he sat back down. Yawning, he crawled under the covers and pressed himself against the wall as much as he could so Alfred could fit. He had no intention of placing his face anywhere near Alfred's feet.

Alfred seemed to get the jist and quickly slid in after him, curling his toes into the plush mattress in satisfaction. He snuggled up close to Lovino, a smile appearing on his face when Lovino didn't attempt to move away.

"You're crushing me," Lovino grumbled, shifting to face Alfred correctly. He could feel the other's breath fan out on his face as he exhaled. "And don't even open your mouth in front of my face."

Alfred snorted and turned to face upwards. "Sorry." The blond shifted sideways until his leg perched on the very edge of the mattress.

There wasn't much space to begin with, so Lovino struggled to get comfortable while Alfred struggled to stay on the mattress. But he didn't complain and only smiled when Lovino glanced at him sideways.

Lovino turned on his side to face Alfred, who turned to face him as well. He ignored the fact that their faces were just inches apart. "Go to sleep, jackass, we have to get to that gas station tomorrow." Lovino turned his back to the blond and closed his eyes.

~/~

Lovino kept waking up, randomly, to push the other away when he got too close or breathed too heavy into the back of Lovino's head. Eventually, he stopped even trying to move Alfred's arm away.

And Alfred drifted in and out of sleep, pulling Lovino closer each time the other pushed away. He couldn't help it, he was a snuggler. Not to mention Lovino was the perfect cuddling size for him. That, and Alfred didn't fancy the biting cold sweeping up in between them.

~/~

"_Ugh... fuck,_" Lovino moaned, blinking slowly as he tried to get the sleep out of his eyes. He yawned and rubbed at his eyes with the back of his hand. He felt like a corpse. The Italian sat up slowly, blankets pooling at his waist and shifting around as he turned to look over at Alfred.

Said blond was stretched out on what little mattress he had been graced with, limbs tangled with the blankets and spread out every which way. He was snoring softly with his head halfway on his pillow, propping up his head at an uncomfortable angle.

"Hey, get up," Lovino pushed Alfred's shoulder with his hand weakly and groaned when the other didn't stir. "Just get up." He whined, pushing him with more force. Lovino didn't want to wake Alfred up himself, but he wanted the other to be awake. Quite a dilemma."Wake up, bastard." He pushed his shoulder harder, making Alfred groan and turn on his side.

"Mmm... five more minutes, darlin'," he slurred, half opening his eyes before they slid shut again. Alfred smacked his lips, swallowing reflexively before his breathing steadied again.

"What the fuck?" Lovino blurted, completely caught off guard by the sudden appearance of an accent in Alfred's voice. That sure as hell woke him up... and where did that 'darling' come from?

"'Five more minutes'." Alfred repeated, wiping at his face and yawning before turning around on his stomach. "'S not really that much, sweetheart," he mumbled into his pillow with the same Southern accent from before. "Come on..." The blond didn't even finish speaking before he was snoring again, his shoulders lax.

"Wake up, bastard!" Lovino groaned, pushing on Alfred's shoulder again. The blond jolted awake this time, sniffling and grumbling as he sat up and leaned against the wall.

"Just five minutes," he pleaded, pulling the thick blanket up to his shoulders to fight off the cold.

"No, dammit, we have to get going." Lovino had gotten up by now, getting dressed and simultaneously packing up their things. He was in a particularly good mood today, partly because he slept on an actual mattress last night, and partly because, according to the map, they were only a couple miles away from the gas station they were looking for. Besides, the streak of good luck they were having was a real confidence booster.

"Let's go," Lovino pulled the blanket off him swiftly, fumbling to fold it correctly until Alfred stood up and helped him.

"You're too short." Alfred teased, folding the blanket in on itself to form a rectangle. He pulled it away from Lovino and rolled it up tightly before stuffing it into his backpack.

"Shut up, at least I don't sound like a cowboy," Lovino scoffed, pulling on his boots and lacing them up.

"You heard my accent, Lovi?" Alfred quirked a brow, a cheeky smile on his face despite the blush that painted his cheeks.

"Mhm," Lovino folded the other blankets as he spoke, smoothing out the wrinkles as he rolled the first one up. "'Five more minutes, darling', if I remember correctly, and 'it's not really that much, sweetheart'." He snickered, tucking the blanket into his backpack.

"I grew up with the accent." Alfred admitted, pulling on his pants and boots. "Sometimes it comes up. Dunno why, it just does." He shrugged and pulled on his jacket, fishing his gloves out of the pocket. "Innit cool though?" Alfred grinned.

"Whatever, just get dressed." Lovino scoffed and grabbed his mask, fiddling with the straps momentarily until he realised it wasn't his. He set the gas mask back where he found it and picked up the other one, inspecting it closely. Was that a scratch?

"Most people think it's cool though," Alfred paused, leaning toward Lovino. "Darlin'." He grinned when Lovino rolled his eyes and– was that a smile? Lovino actually _smiled at him!_

"You sound stupid."

"Aw, c'mon, sugar, dontcha like it?" He cooed in that same accent from before, throwing his arm around the older man's shoulders. "I sure do. Sounds real nice, y'know?" He laughed when Lovino snorted and pushed him off.

"Shut up."

"Would you hit me if I called you 'doll'?" Alfred grinned wickedly, catching his gas mask when Lovino threw it at him.

"Yes, now stop fucking around so we can leave." Lovino had packed their things away and was ready to go. Now.

He picked up his backpack, slinging it over his shoulder before moving the the front of the truck, well out of range of Lovino's wrath. "Try to keep up, doll." The blond winked before exiting the cabin and jumping out into the snow.

"Fuck off!" He yelled as he jumped out after him, his voice muffled by the gas mask covering his face.

Alfred had heard him and laughed, loud and freely. "God, Lovi, you're too funny." He grabbed Lovino's hand and pulled him down the snowy mound, careful to avoid going near the body he had dumped out here.

Lovino didn't pull away his hand once they reached the bottom, though, because there was an array of footprints trailing all around the base of the snowy hill.

"What the hell?" Lovino faltered, glancing up at Alfred, who was equally surprised.

"Someone... who's following us?" He let go of the Italian's hand and walked over to the least morphed set of footprint he could find. They were fairly small, not very wide, and judging by the gait, whoever was walking had been very careful.

It scared the shit out of him.

"We should go." Lovino stepped forward, pushed Alfred gently to divert his attention away from the chilling footprints. "Like, now." His hands were shaking but he ignored it and gripped the other's hand, pulling him forward and down the street.

"Whoever came by is probably still out there." Alfred whispered, half of his sentence being drowned out by the wind as it picked up. "We should- we should get off the road." He flinched when he thought he heard the crunch of someone stepping in snow behind them, quickly pulling Lovino off the road and past the treeline.

Alfred tugged Lovino along at a quick pace, keeping his eyes forward. Lovino did not argue or even try to move away from Alfred the slightest bit. His fear fuelled him to stick close to the blond.

Somewhere behind them, a pair of stony blue eyes was watching, carefully and calculating.

* * *

Updated 1/30

If anyone was wondering about the whole accent thing with Alfred, when you grow up with an accent, it sticks with you until you move to a different place with a different accent. You gradually lose your original accent and adopt the new one. Sometimes, when the person is very sleepy, tired, overwhelmed, or angry, their accent will pop up.


	7. Chapter 7

Okay so... hella short chapter because I think I finally shook off my writing funk and I was really excited to write this for some reason?

I had another scene attached to this but it was too long in the end, so I'll just stick it with chapter 8.

Oh, and those mysterious eyes don't show up in this chapter, no need to worry.

Anyways, enjoy!

* * *

A couple hours had passed since they left the truck and so far nothing had happened, easing their paranoid thoughts greatly. Alfred was sure they were going in the right direction but I was hard to tell with all the snow covering everything. They had merrily made their way down the frozen road until they were met with a three-way intersection.

"It says Mission Grove Road." Lovino interjected before Alfred could ask about the street. They had done this on their way up here many, _many_ times. Who knew they would run into so many intersections?

"We're here! It's just off to the left, come on." He grabbed Lovino's hand with a grin, leading him down the more desolate road with a happy skip in his step. The brunet rolled his eyes and followed him quietly.

It hadn't taken them more than a couple minutes to reach the abandoned rest stop at the end of Mission Grove Road. The white and red _Stop and Shop_ was a small little thing, just a little over the width of a school bus from what they could see. It was covered in snow, as expected, and looked virtually untouched. There was no gas fill up, so it could hardly be called a gasoline station, and there weren't even any cars around.

"This place looks fucking creepy." Lovino blurted out, shifting uneasily in his spot beside Alfred. The blond just laughed, patting Lovino's shawl covered back amicably. "Nah, dude, it was way creepier back when it was actually functioning, trust me. Now let's go, we'll be a lot warmer inside!"

The Italian man sighed softly and followed closely after his companion, pushing the uneasiness out of his mind for now.

Alfred frowned as they approached, eventually coming to a halt in front of what was assumed to be the entrance. The snow and ice came up to about Alfred's height, but gradually reduced the further from the building it was.

"Now... we dig."

And that's exactly what they did.

They spent what seemed like forever to try and find something suitable to use as makeshift shovel. After much searching, Lovino found a couple sheets of metal thin enough to bend. The blond commended him for his excellent searching skills and Lovino only blushed in embarrassment, turning away saying it was really nothing. Then, Alfred explained to Lovino about metal, and how it would actually break instead of bend because it was cold before Lovino interrupted him with an exasperated sigh.

"I know how metal works, idiot. Just make it smaller so we can lots of pieces to work with."

After that, they got to work slowly and, honestly, painfully. By the time they had gone half of the way through the wall of snow, they were sweating and panting and already down to only six pieces of metal.

"I... I don't like this." Alfred dropped his warped piece of metal and sat down against the snow mound behind him. "It's so hot, I'm gonna die." He panted and Lovino could see his chest heave even under all the clothing.

"Fuck, I'm tired.." Lovino was sweating buckets and he could feel his sweat soaked clothes beginning to stick to him. He sat down beside Alfred, leaning his head back with a soft groan.

"I got a cramp in my foot." Alfred admitted, looking wistfully down at his boots. "And my shoulders hurt. A lot." He rolled his shoulders and gave a whine of pain.

"We're almost done, Al." He trailed off at the end, too tired to actually finish saying the other's name completely. He nudged his companion's arm but didn't make a move to stand. He was just so _tired_.

"Come on... Lovi." Alfred patted the other's leg weakly before getting up with a grunt. He held his gloved hand out to Lovino, who hesitantly took it, before pulling him up too.

The blond seemed refreshed and ready to take on the challenge again. Sort of. But was nowhere near that energetic at the moment. How did he do it?

"I don't know if you remember," Lovino panted, picking up his piece of metal. "But I'm an architect. Architects _design_ buildings, not fucking _build_ them." Still, he shook his head and went back to work.

"I know, I know. Just..." Alfred paused to scrape a lump of frozen snow out of the white wall with a grunt. "Come on... we're almost done." He flashed a thumbs up at Lovino, who only rolled his eyes and hacked at the packed snow with the metal.

After another excruciating forty-five minutes, they had finally reached the building. And they came nose to brick with a wall.

"Che cazzo!" Lovino groaned, throwing his chunk of metal down in the snow like a child. He stomped out of the little tunnel they had created and sat down on the ground, hanging his head between his knees.

Lovino muttered obscenities into his mask, tears pricking at his eyes. All that work had been for nothing. He was sweating like a pig and his clothes smelled terrible, it had all been for _nothing_ because they couldn't even guess right. Fucking stupid! It was so frustrating having to do so much work only for it to be useless in the end.

He hadn't even realised he started crying until he saw the teardrops landing on his mask. "Oh, fuck." He sniffled, blinking to push away his tears. It wasn't really working and he didn't want to let Alfred see him this way. He was pathetic.

"Hey, Lovino..." Alfred's soft voice startled him but he didn't look up, not even when the other settled down beside him. "Are you okay? You were really angry back there." Alfred paused when he saw Lovino tense up. "But, but I understand. I know how you feel." The blond put his arm around his companion slowly.

Lovino let out a shaky breath, trying to control his voice. "I'm fine." His voice cracked and he cursed under his breath.

"Lovino, you have the right to be angry." Alfred said firmly. He noticed Lovino leaning towards him slowly, but didn't say anything and instead pulled him closer. "I know it sucks, but at least we're close." Lovino snorted and shook his head.

"No, no, listen." Alfred laughed in an attempt to lighten the mood. "I dug a little out on the sides, just to kinda know where we were in relative location to the door, right? Well it turns out we dug out the space right between the windows and the door. Isn't that funny? We don't need to dig much, and if the door is frozen shut we can just break the glass." He smiled and rocked Lovino a bit.

"Now come on, we'll cuddle more comfortably inside." Alfred joked and he heard Lovino chuckle beneath him. "Let's go, 'Vino." He gave him one last squeeze before pulling away and standing up. Lovino stood up as well, grateful for once that Alfred was taller than him so he wouldn't see his blotchy face.

"I'm fine." He repeated once more, sniffling softly before picking up his sheet of metal and retreating into the short tunnel.

~/~

After just twenty minutes, they cleared enough snow for them to fit snugly shoulder to shoulder in front of the door. As Alfred predicted, the door was sealed tightly by ice and snow (not to mention the door swung out anyways), so the only way to get in was by kicking the glass out.

"Stand back, I don't want something to happen to you." Alfred cautioned, waiting until Lovino was a couple feet away from him before he started kicking at the glass.

He was sitting down with his back against the snow, feet planted firmly on the door. He kicked and kicked and kicked until the glass cracked and made a spiderweb of broken shards. One more kick popped out the entire piece onto the brown tiled floor on the other side.

"And we're in!" Alfred cheered, shifting from his butt to his knees before crawling in. "Come on in, Lovi." He called out behind him, sliding away the piece of glass so it wouldn't get in the way.

Lovino did as he was told and followed closely behind. "Wow, this place is pretty much intact."

On the inside, all the shelves were still standing and stuffed with junk food. Nothing was out of place and Lovino guessed no one had been in here since... who knows how long. It wasn't very smart to set up a convenience store in the middle of nowhere but this was an oasis in their frozen world.

"This is literally a miracle from Jesus himself." Alfred jumped up, pulling off his mask and backpack before he started walking around. Lovino was pulling off his own backpack and mask when Alfred turned around abruptly, a big grin on his face.

"Hey, d'ya think they maybe have, like, an emergency generator? If, if they do I could probably get it started and we'd have electricity. Maybe... maybe even running water if it's all hooked up together. Oh my God!" He laughed, spreading out his arms like he was ready for a hug.

"Oh, no, bastard. You smell terrible and I'm not going anywhere near you until you change clothes." Lovino stuck his nose in the air, crossing his arms and leaning against the wall.

"Aw, come on, Lovi! I totally deserve this hug for all the hard work I've done." He whined, giving Lovino his best puppy dog eyes.

The Italian man scoffed, looking away so wouldn't have to see Alfred's face. "No, you're gross and smelly."

"Really?"

"Yes, really."

"Not even one little hug?"

"Hell no."

"Please? For me?"

"Pfft, as if I would do anything for you."

"...Oh."

Lovino visibly flinched at Alfred's response and he wanted to kick himself for being so mean. He chewed his lip and his mind raced for a way to solve the problem.

_Fuck._

Swallowing his embarrassment and, admittedly, slight fear, he trudged up to Alfred and wrapped his arms around his middle, pressing his cheek to the other's chest to avoid looking at his face. Before he could pull away, Alfred picked him up in a bone crushing hug of his own and laughed.

"I knew you would!" Without thinking, he pressed a kiss to Lovino's forehead before he set him down. Alfred ruffled Lovino's hair and walked away, eyes wide and distant with his lips pulled up into an empty, frightened smile.

_Holy shit. Lovino's gonna kill me. I'm going to die and Lovino is the person who will make it happen. Oh my god, I'm _dead_._

Alfred walked away faster than he'd like to admit, weaving in between the shelves and racks of cheap clothing to get away from Lovino.

He hadn't even realised it, really, he just got caught up in the moment. Lovino voluntarily hugged him because he cared about his feelings and that was probably the cutest hug he had ever received (even better than that one time his neighbour's dog hugged him). It wasn't really his fault. Lovino was the one who just so happen to be there, and he wasn't about to let his appreciation go to waste so, naturally, that was the only choice he had. But he didn't deny that maybe, just a little itty bitty bit, he wanted Lovino to kiss him back. As friends, of course!

"Hey, bastard!" Lovino called after him and Alfred was sure he was going to get punched.

"Are you gonna find the emergency generator or what?" Lovino's response made him let out a breath he didn't know he was holding. "Yeah, of course. Could you, uh, help me find some tools too? They might be in a closet or something."

"Mhm, sure."

"Alright, come find me when you do."

"Yeah... okay."

_What the _fuck_. What the actual fuck just happened? Why did he do that? What the hell. This is what I get for hugging him and I'm never doing it again because, because it was obviously disgusting and that's why my stomach feels weird. I'm done with... with that._

Despite this, Lovino trudged off to find a toolbox, his cheeks still bright pink from Alfred's kiss.

* * *

Yay for attraction!

Anyways, I can't be the only one who makes the kind of face Al made after he kissed Lovi, right? Man, he's just such a little dork and he has a kind of admiration for Lovino, really. Maybe not and I'm just in too deep with this ship.

Onto notes for this story!

One, let's hope for the sake of them having something actually good happen to them that they do find an emergency generator that also happens to control the water somehow? It may be highly unlikely but I'm putting my creative licence into play here to give them something good. These boys deserve something nice for once.

Two, buckle up for science, kids.

If you're curious to why the glass didn't just shatter, it was because the glass was laminated glass (you know, the kind that's on windshields). It's made of a polyvinyl butyral plastic that's in between two pieces of glass and put together with heat and pressure. This makes the glass harder to break and it keeps the shattered glass stuck to the PVB so it doesn't just fly everywhere and hurt someone. If you do manage to break it enough, the glass will just pop off in one piece and yeah.


	8. Chapter 8

A/N: So I swear I'm still here, and even though this one is shorter than the others, it's fluffy (I _guess_).I love the reviews you guys post, really! They make me smile for, like, days after I read them. I'm glad you guys like this story. Unfortunately, I don't think Berwald and Peter will be making another appearance, but don't get your hopes up too much because I _might _add them in later. Maybe... hmm, I'm still debating it.

Anyways, enjoy!

* * *

"Lovino!" Alfred whined, falling face first into the mound of blankets Lovino had piled together. "I'm too tired to fix the generator right now!" His voice was muffled and he didn't bother to move even when the Italian kicked his leg.

They had been apart for the total of two minutes and Lovino was in the process of setting up their pathetic excuse for a bed near the cash register. It was the only section of the store without shelves but unfortunately, that space was small.

"I don't care, get up, bastard. Let me put the blankets down!" He huffed, dropping to his knees and pushing the bigger man off. Alfred rolled over with a loud groan, his body thumping on the cold tiled floor.

"Lovi," he whined again, watching his friend spread the blankets out evenly. "My shoulders hurt really bad and I think I'm dying." Alfred gave a dramatic sigh, draping his hand over his forehead.

"That's great. You won't bother me anymore." Lovino joked. He caught Alfred's eye and smiled the tiniest bit.

"I have a proposition for you, Lovi." Alfred rolled onto the blankets, laying on his stomach and pillowing his head on his folded arms. "If you rub the knots out of my back, I'll do the same to you." Alfred shot him a lopsided smile, eyes twinkling hopefully.

Lovino leaned back on his hands, regarding him with a careful look on his face. Alfred instantly knew he would say no.

"Please, please, please, Lovi!" He pleaded childishly. "I'm really good at giving massages, trust me! Come on, you won't regret it!" Alfred promised, sitting up halfway. "Please?" He dragged out the word, clasping his hands together in front of him until he lost his balance and fell over.

"Fine." Lovino was going to agree to it since the beginning anyway.

"Really?" Alfred perked up, eyes wide in disbelief.

"Yes, idiot. Lay down before I change my mind." He threatened, rising to his knees and cracking his knuckles.

"Okay, okay!" Alfred said giddily, smiling before pulling off his sweaty t-shirt and flinging it to the side.

Lovino gave Alfred's broad chest a slow look, his eyes tracing the slight outline of his almost invisible six pack (he wasn't sure if it would count as a six pack, but he figured that since he could make out the individual muscles, that it must have been). His gaze dropped down to follow the blond abdominal hairs leading from his navel and down into his pants. Lovino eyed the soft, downward slope of Alfred's groin muscles, what he believed was called the Adonis belt. His eyes lingered for only a few seconds before Alfred's voice diverted his attention.

"Are you gonna use oils and all that stuff?" He asked, apparently not noticing Lovino's very obvious and very heated _accidental_ stare.

"It's not like they have any, dumbass." Lovino scoffed to cover up the fact that he had been staring at Alfred. He gave Alfred's sweat glistening, well-muscled back a mixed look of disgust and regret.

"Over there." Alfred pointed to the small shelf area labelled 'Mystic Oils' in ugly purple font. There was a small little wizard man at both ends of the thin label holding a staff. Lovino couldn't believe they sold oils at a _gas station_.

"Well, okay…" He said a little awkwardly, waddling on his knees to the oils. He rummaged through the very tiny and very cheap glass bottles until he found one he thought would work. Not even bothering to look at the others, he stumbled back to Alfred.

"Whatcha got?" He eyed the bottle curiously, reaching for it before Lovino smacked his hand away.

"Jojoba oil." He pushed Alfred down onto the blankets, ready to apply the oil before he realised Alfred's long hair would get in the way.

"Hold on…" He mumbled, wobbling on his feet as he stood. Lovino walked down the aisles slowly, grumbling impatiently under his his breath until he found the hair ties. He picked up a small package and ripped it apart, picking up two light brown ones from the floor before returning to Alfred.

He tied up his friend's hair first, then his, making sure to catch every strand.

"Man-bun." Alfred marvelled, glancing up at Lovino with a grin

Lovino rolled his eyes. That saying hadn't been used in a long time.

"Whatever, idiot, lay back down." He lightly pushed Alfred's head down, earning a hum from the blond.

Lovino dropped a small amount of cold oil onto his palm before setting down the bottle. He rubbed his hands together slowly to warm the slick substance up, careful not to drip any onto the paler man.

He kneeled above Alfred and hesitantly placed his hands on his back, prodding his fingers into the taut muscles. His hands shifted to his middle back, feeling for the muscles that were less tense and working on those. He pressed his fingers into his back in slow, shallow movements. Lovino spread his fingers and pressed his palm flat against Alfred's back, massaging the tense muscle under his sharp shoulder blade.

Beneath him, Alfred let out a pleased moan that he muffled with the blankets, his shoulders going lax. The blond curled his fingers into his hand when Lovino climbed on top of him to get a better angle, slender fingers pressing into his back.

The Italian could see Donatello's mutant face staring up at him, half his grinning mouth hidden by the tight sweatpants Alfred wore. He had half a mind to pull them down in order to see the rest of the turtle's face.

Instead, Lovino sat higher up the blond thighs, nervously aware of his crotch pressing into the other's ass. He ignored it and kept moving his hands, absentmindedly tracing his finger up Alfred's spine and feeling the slight depression between each spinous process. The blond arched beneath him and let out a whine as goosebumps raised on his skin.

"Sorry," Lovino apologised in a mumble, scooting further up but keeping his hands in the same spot. He used his thumb to rub soft circles in his friend's back, feeling the vibrations of Alfred's groans and grunts.

The brunet moved up to his shoulders, deepening the stroke of his hand and slowing his pace even more. He worked on the American's shoulders for a few minutes, feeling the tenseness dissipating slowly.

Alfred let out a particularly loud moan, fingers gripping the blankets beneath him tightly. He commended Lovino and his _excellent_ hands in the next breath, which came out hoarse.

Lovino chuckled, working his thumbs into the middle of Alfred's upper back. He was practically laying on top of Alfred at this point. The blond didn't seemed to mind though, only shifting his hips occasionally to accommodate the change of weight distribution when Lovino moved.

The Italian was done sooner than Alfred would have liked, but his muscles were loose now, which felt amazing. He could hardly find the energy to get up and all he wanted to do was sleep.

"Now you have to hold up your end of the promise." Lovino scowled, climbing off of the sleepy blond and pulling off his own shirt slowly. Alfred sat up in the same moment, eyeing the Italian's lazy movements curiously.

Lovino's shoulders were narrow, and he was skinny enough to have his collarbones jutting out. His ribs were starting to show, but Alfred blamed it on malnutrition and the cold. His eyes studied the thinner man's torso, eyes skimming over his nipples and down to his bellybutton before stopping at the elastic band of his underwear.

He was vaguely aware of Lovino's awkward gaze settling on him. Alfred looked up with an embarrassed smile, rubbing the back of his neck to divert his attention. God, Lovino probably thought he was rude now. He knew for a fact Lovino wouldn't have looked at _him_ like that.

"You ready?" He asked after clearing his throat.

"Yeah…" Lovino nodded, laying down in the same spot where Alfred had once been. He let out a heavy sigh, letting his shoulders relax slowly.

Alfred did almost exactly what Lovino did, even going as far as straddling the brunet to get a better angle.

His fingers were surprisingly gentle, Lovino noted, humming at the feeling of Alfred's fingers working his back. He let out a soft groan when the blond dug the base of his palms into the space under his shoulder blades, rubbing it in a slow half circle as the muscles underneath eased up.

Alfred was fully aware of the tenseness of Lovino's muscles, now all relaxed and loose. He didn't stop though, because the Italian beneath him arched his back every time he rubbed his thumbs at the base of his neck. Lovino looked funny, and Alfred could feel the muscles underneath his hands tense and relax when he continued his deep strokes.

Lovino let out a whine when Alfred finally stopped, his face pink from embarrassment. He waited patiently as the blond scooted off him, his movements sloth-like.

"I'm so sleepy…" Alfred yawned, settling down beside Lovino after the other moved over. Lovino gave a grunt of agreement and meekly pulled at the blanket that was next to him, as if it would magically start moving and drape itself over them.

Alfred seemed to think the same as him because he leaned over Lovino to grab the blanket, his chest pressed flush against the other's back. He could feel the heat from Alfred's body and suddenly felt a bit too warm. But he couldn't move because Alfred was heavy as hell and very slow to retrieve the blanket, so he just laid there, pinned underneath the blond for what seemed like the longest 20 seconds of his life.

"Got it." Alfred cleared his throat, giving the back of Lovino's head a half smile as he pulled the thick, oddly patterned cat blanket over both of them.

Lovino made a soft hum, not even having enough energy to protest when Alfred scooted closer. He felt the heat of his chest against his back again, and it was welcomed against the cool air swirling around them at the moment. _Damn, should've lit a fire… _Lovino heard Alfred yawn and felt him bury his nose into his neck, hot breath fanning out on his shoulders.

The massage had made him too sleepy to even grunt when Alfred's hand came to rest on his hip. He felt the blond's fingers slipped just under the hem of his shirt to trace the sudden jut of his hipbone, and it sent a strange sort of heat through him that followed Alfred's hand as it rubbed up and down his side comfortingly at a slow, lazy speed.

Alfred was more than willing to admit that he wouldn't mind spending every night like this, curled around Lovino with their legs tangled together. He didn't complain when the oil rubbed against his chest as the Italian shifted around.

Lovino grazed his fingers over Alfred's sharp knuckles, feeling the bone and the dip between each hill. His fingertips traced up and down Alfred's hand in steadily sustained rhythm. It made a queer sort of turn of Alfred's stomach that he could only describe as a hundred bees buzzing around in a jar. Or his stomach beating itself up, but… gently. It felt weird, in a fuzzy, warm sort of way.

When the blond whispered a soft 'goodnight' into the other's ear, Lovino was sure his heart was beating a mile a minute. Then Alfred had to go and be thoughtful and press a soft, lingering kiss right under the brunet's ear. Lovino thought his heart was going to beat out of his chest right then and there. Thankfully, it didn't, but his cheeks were a whole lot warmer than he'd like them to be.

And they fell asleep like that, pressed close to each other with tangled limbs and intertwined fingers. They slept comfortably in the presence of each other, more relaxed than they had been in a very, _very_ long time.


End file.
